Zika has just recently became a significant member of the most potentially dangerous viruses in the world. It wasn’t much of a concern until its introduction occurred in Brazil during the first few months of 2015. Over half a million cases of rash, fever, and other illnesses were recorded throughout the year in Brazil, and Zika was responsible. Zika is one of about 70 viruses of the Flavivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. The symptoms of Zika aren’t always prominent, but if or when they are, there’s usually not much to worry about. These symptoms include headaches, fever, rash, body aches, tiredness, and conjunctivitis, all of which are quite mild. It is important to keep in mind, though, that Zika is linked to a number of different diseases …show more content…
A year later, the virus was discovered in mosquitoes, the most common form of transmission today, living in the same location as the monkeys. The virus was not only found to be in this region, but along equatorial Africa and Asia in countries like Tanzania, India, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia as well. Reported cases of Zika in humans start to develop in the equatorial region of Africa and Asia, but very minimally throughout the next few decades. The first noticeable outbreak of Zika virus in humans takes place in 2007 on Yap Island located east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. Over the next several years small numbers of cases are reported; none of which located outside the Zika region or too far from it. The year 2013 marked the next influential outbreak with French Polynesia as well as several other small pacific islands reporting thousands of suspected Zika cases. In the year 2015 alone, hundreds of thousands of suspected Zika virus cases were reported throughout half of Brazil’s twenty-six states. From then on, the virus has spread throughout Central and South America and has been introduced into the U.S. with its first recorded documentation in Florida during July of 2016. The mosquito-borne illness was introduced in Texas just a few months after in November of 2016. Currently, these are the only two states affected