zika virus can it be cured

thousands of infants in brazil are being diagnosedwith a devastating birth defect and medical researchers believe it might be linked toa mosquito borne virus. so, what is this mysterious virus and how do we stop it? zika, a strange mosquito borne virus, is sweepingthrough many central and south american countries. current estimates place the number of zikacases at over a million in brazil alone. and in response to the outbreak the cdc has implementedtwo new travel bans, to an already large list, for pregnant women, one on the united statesvirgin islands and the other on the dominican republic. the ban is for pregnant women specificallybecause since the epidemic started, the incidences

of microcephaly, a devastating birth defect,have skyrocketed. microcephaly is a condition where a baby is born with a small head. becausethe head is so small in those born with the condition, the brain is small too, meaningit’s underdeveloped. which can cause a whole range of other health issues like cognitivedeficits, seizures, feeding problems, vision problems and hearing loss. unfortunately there’sno cure for the condition, only treatments for it’s effects. microcephaly is typically seen in rates ofabout 2 in 10,000 births according to a study published in the journal birth defects research(part a). but nearly 4,000 cases have been reported in brazil since october, that’snearly 26 times the normal rate. and researchers

strongly suspect that the birth defect islinked to the zika virus. now this epidemic seemed to come out of nowhere.the mosquito that carries the virus, aedes aegypti, was pretty much eradicated in brazilin the 1950s. but as the decades wore on, it made it’s way back. then last year reportsof zika in brazil started popping up. but it wasn’t taken too seriously, since it’ssymptoms are mild, just things like a fever or a rash. it wasn’t until the rate of microcephalyshot up that the world started to take notice. now the battle against zika is underway, andone that brazil is badly losing, according to the health minister. and it is literallya battle, 220,000 members of the armed forces are going door to door to help in the currentmosquito eradication efforts. but it’s not

just brazil, zika has been reported in 24regions around the world, mostly in tropical areas. each country is issuing warnings, someseem extreme. for instance, the government of el salvador told women to avoid pregnancyfor two years! as for the zika virus itself, there’s notreatment, vaccine, or cure. the cdc says the best way to avoid the virus, is to avoidmosquito bites. now, experts say that a us outbreak is unlikelyto occur. they believe that most cases will happen to those who travel to brazil and otheraffected countries. but this summer tons of people will descend on rio de janeiro forthe 2016 games. which some experts are calling “a perfect dissemination vehicle for zika.”if people travel to brazil, get zika from

a mosquito bite, then return home and getbitten there, the zika virus could transfer to the local mosquito population. which wouldmean that there is the pot

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