5 Things You Need To Know About The Newly Worldwide Spread Virus Called Zika
Zika is a virus people get from mosquito
bites.
The symptoms of this virus are fever, rash, joint pain and
conjunctivitis (red eyes). It is not a severe illness and the symptoms
usually last from a few days to a week.
The first confirmed Zika virus happened
in Brazil in May 2015, when the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
alerted the people. This first outbreak was accompanied by
Guillain-Barre syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with
defects.
These are the 5 most important things you need to know about this virus:
- There isn’t a vaccine that can protect from Zika or a cure to treat it.
- You can get this virus if you get bitten by Aedes mosquito and you already have the infection, and then the mosquito spreads the infection by biting others. Those people are actually carriers as long as they have the symptoms.
- The Zika virus is now transmitted in Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname, Samoa, The U.S Virgin Islands and Venezuela, states the CDC.
- The only way you can stay away from this virus is not to travel to the countries where the virus is active, and if you do, CDC says you must protect yourself from mosquitos: apply an EPA-approved repellent over sunscreen, wear long pants and long sleeve blouses that are thick enough and sleep in rooms that have air conditioning and are screened.
- Many researchers are trying to create a vaccine against Zika. Until they succeed, health officials are presenting mosquito control techniques that include spraying pesticides and getting rid of stanting water receptacles where mosquitos breed the most. The CDC advise the local homeowners, hotel owners and visitors to countries where the virus is active to also get rid of standing waters including outdoor buckets and flowerports.
Many studies showed that local control
is only partially effective as it is not easy to reach each breeding
area. And because AedesAegypti can live near humans and “can replicate
in flower vases and other tiny sources of water”, stated the
microbiologist Brian Foy, it is very difficult to find and destroy the
mosquitos.