Zika Virus

Prevention involves decreasing mosquitoes bites in areas where the disease occurs and proper use of condoms.

It is a cause of significant concern for those living in tropical areas where the mosquitoes that are the primary vector for spreading the virus are active year-round. Pregnant women who contract the virus will likely infect their unborn babies with the virus where it may (depending on when it is during the pregnancy) cause serious birth defects and/or cause miscarriages due to those birth defects. Since most of countries that are in the tropical regions of the planet already have significant health and economic issues. If you live in the tropics you should be very concerned. If you feel compassion for those living there you should be very concerned on their behalf.

The further away from the tropics you are, the less risk there is from the virus. Mosquitoes are active for less of the year and the type of mosquitoes that carry the virus are less prevalent as you move away from the tropics. As in the tropics, the risk is for pregnant women. If you travel to areas with a significant presence of the virus you are at risk to become infected but unless you are pregnant or interacting closely with someone who is pregnant it would not be of much concern.

Zika is actively present in the United States, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, South and Central America, Pacific Islands, and Cape Horn in Africa.

There are attempts to contain the spread of the virus, but due to the fact it is transmitted by mosquitoes, containment is difficult.

I think they are. This is a new disease that was brought up from South America quicker than it should have because of air travel, so people were not aware they even needed to be careful and were infected without knowing. Others knew the danger and allowed themselves to be exposed anyways.

Either way it takes time to develop a cure. Obviously stopping the infected mosquitos will help, but they only need to feed on another infected person to bring it all right back again. We need to give the scientists time to develop a vaccination, and maybe the anti-vaxers won't think this one is a conspiracy too.

The first way the Zika virus can be spread is by actually encountering the mosquito. The mosquito then can inject the virus into your body. The mosquito picks it up while feeding on an infected person or animal.

The second way is through bodily function sharing. There are currently several incidents of people having sexual intercourse with an infected person and contracting the virus.

The third way is a pregnant woman transmitting it to her unborn baby. That's where things get really ugly; when a fetus is infected with the Zika virus, it can result in microcephaly, severe brain malformations, and other birth defects.

It is a virus, and most viruses just have to run their course. They are not like bacterias that can be treated with antibiotics.

Anyone CAN get the Zika virus if bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus.

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Also - pregnant women who contract the virus will probably pass it to the developing fetus (causing nasty birth defects) so technically that would also be a case of a "kid" getting Zika.

If they get infected with it. If they are healthy, it will make them a bit sick, but not too seriously. If a female athlete is pregnant when infected - or gets pregnant soon after getting infected - it may not make the athlete sick but the birth defects it can cause in the developing fetus certainly won't make her feel very good so it would certainly affect her mental health - and if a male athlete passes it along to a pregnant woman and causes her developing child to have birth defects he would probably feel pretty bad too...

The Zika virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex - primarily from a man to his partner.

According to the CDC, Zika virus stays in the blood for 2 to 7 days after the symptoms pass. However, it stays in urine and semen for up to a few months after the infection.

If a person is trying to conceive after having Zika virus, both partners should consult with a physician to make sure it is safe. They can be tested to verify there are no signs of an active virus remaining.

Zika virus causes flu like symptoms, a rash, blood shot eyes, and can cause microcephaly in unborn babies. It is spread by mosquitos, but after a person is infected, they can also spread it through sexual contact. In some extreme cases, zika can be fatal.

In January 2016, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued travel guidance on affected countries, including the use of enhanced precautions, and guidelines for pregnant women including considering postponing travel. Other governments or health agencies also issued similar travel warnings, while Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Jamaica advised women to postpone getting pregnant until more is known about the risks. A transmission is the vertebrate hosts of the virus were primarily monkeys in a so-called enzootic mosquito-monkey-mosquito cycle, with only occasional transmission to humans. Before the current pandemic began in 2007, Zika "rarely caused recognized 'spillover' infections in humans, even in highly enzootic areas". Infrequently, other arboviruses have become established as a human disease though, and spread in a mosquito-human-mosquito cycle, like the yellow fever virus and the dengue fever virus.

The virus is not know to cause death directly, but sometimes it does cause secondary problems that can lead to death. Zika virus infections have been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) with a few cases of Zika related GBS resulting in death. Birth defects caused by Zika can be life threatening though.