Health

So, What Is ZIKA?

Like it’s predecessors—Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Influenza, and the Ebola Outbreak of 2014—the ZIKA virus has joined a host of diseases and outbreaks that has put the world on its toes and sparked a sense of unrest. To date, the virus has been linked to instances of microcephaly in newborns born to mothers infected with the ZIKA virus. The World Health Organization, as well as the Center for Disease Control, have addressed the disease’s capability to cause arthritic-like pain in the ankles, hands, feet, hips, and shoulders; as well as, fever, eye problems, premature birth, and neurological complications in newborns. The primary hosts and carriers of the disease are mosquitos, transmitting the disease once the skin is punctured. As of April 11, 2016, 346 documented cases of ZIKA have surfaced in the US. While there is currently no readily available vaccine, as many as 62 vaccines are being screened as possible treatments. The US Congress has been appealed to grant an emergency $1.9 billion to cover virus prevention measures. Because the scope of ZIKA is still being researched and tested frequently, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease gave these comments on April 10th, 2016: “The more and more we learn, the more you get concerned about the scope of what this virus is doing,” The more research that is conducted, the more prepared we can be, and the more preventative measures can be taken.”