In WebMD’s article “Zika Virus: What You Should Know,” it discusses what the Zika virus is, where it came from, how you catch the virus, how the virus is treated, the effect on pregnancies, how to test for the Zika virus, other health risks that have been linked to the virus, and some protective measure that can be taken. The article starts off with stating that Zika virus is mainly spread through mosquitoes but in some other cases has been also spread through sexual relations. The first United States cases of locally spread Zika virus were found in the Wynwood area of Miami, Florida; because the virus is known to have life altering effects on babies during pregnancies, women were urged to stay away from the Miami Beach in order to ensure the …show more content…
Similar to malaria, the virus is transmitted when a mosquito bites an infected person and then bites another person spreading the disease/ virus. According to the article, outbreaks of the Zika virus didn’t start occurring outside of the Africa area until around the 2000’s. Although most people that contract the virus do not exhibit any symptoms, the symptoms associated with Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain, and redness of the whites of eyes. Even though Zika virus has been around since the 1940’s, there is no known treatment for the virus, although taking over the counter medications help with relieving the aches and pains that come along with the virus. One of the “plus sides” to the virus is that it is known to run its course within about a week of time. As well as no known treatment for the virus, there is currently no available vaccines. However, the National Institutes of Health is in the works of testing out Zika vaccines. The article states that Zika virus is known to cause birth complications, a common complication linked to the virus is …show more content…
In the United States there were more than 800 infected mothers resulting in at least 20 Zika virus related birth defects, as well as 5 losses due to the virus. Because the seriousness of Zika virus and the serious birth defects linked to Zika virus, the CDC, Center of Disease Control suggests that any pregnant women should take into consideration not traveling or rethink traveling to more than 50 countries, to name a few- the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Fiji, Saint Lucia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands due to the fact that there is a high concentrations of the virus. Researchers suggest that because the virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, it is believed that Zika virus will likely reach all the countries that are home to the Aedes mosquito. Due to the high number of travel associated cases, 3,600 cases, and 28 sexually transmitted cases; it is predicted that 3 to 4 million people may become infected with the virus in the next