Zika Virus: News

The Zika Virus is a viral disease primarily transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes species mosquitoes. The US Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that these mosquitoes bite during the day and at night. There is no known cure or vaccine for the Zika virus. The disease is characterized by symptoms including fever, rash, headache, joint pain, muscle pain, and red eyes. The CDC claims that symptoms can last for several days to a week but people don’t get sick enough to be hospitalized and rarely die of the infection. Additionally, once patients recover they are protected from future infections. The infection can be transmitted through sex, from a pregnant mother to her fetus, and possibly through blood transfusion. The virus was first discovered in 1947 and is named after the Zika forest in Uganda, Africa. The first human infection from the disease was recorded in 1952 and since then, outbreaks have been reported across Africa, South-East Asia, and the Pacific Islands.