A patient with symptoms of the Chikungunya virus in a Dominican hospital. Outbreaks have been reported in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Reuters/Ricardo Rojas
There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat the chikungunya virus infection. The only available method of prevention is through shielding people from mosquito bites.
A human-dependent mosquito, the range of the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti is projected to grow in the U.S. and affect more people globally.
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Andrew Monaghan, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
More people in the U.S. and world will be exposed to the disease-carrying mosquito Aedes aegypti, not just because of warmer temperatures but global population changes as well.
Eventually reduced rainfall hit much of Australia thanks to El Niño.
Andrew Watkins
The outbreak of mosquito-borne Zika virus in South America has cast a shadow over preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Rio de Janerio.
So much more can be achieved if African researchers work together.
EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU
There are a number of stumbling blocks to intra African collaboration. These must be addressed to ensure that research is not duplicated and that findings are shared.
The antiviral condoms help protect against HIV, herpes and HPV.
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The active ingredient in the gel can bind to various viruses and stop them from attaching and getting into human cells.
Mosquitoes, thousands of mosquitoes! Mosquitoes found in our local wetlands can often overwhelm us but even mosquitoes that have moved into our backyards can cause problems.
Better access to birth control and safe, legal abortions in Latin America could save lives. But carving out Zika-related exceptions in existing restrictions might not go far enough to achieve this.
How much will it cost to fumigate the streets of Haiti?
Reuters
How does an institution like the World Bank come to put a price tag on a virus like Zika or any other health calamity?
A book about Aedes aegypti mosquitoes is seen next to larvae in a laboratory conducting research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases, at the Ministry of Public Health in Guatemala City.
Josue Decavele/Reuters
Aedes aegypti is adapted to live in close proximity with humans, and this close association likely contributes to the severity of the Zika outbreak.
Even if Zika sometimes causes pregnant mothers to have babies with microcephaly, this does not necessarily mean every infected mother would have an affected baby.
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Despite all the hype around Zika, crucial questions remain unanswered. How great is the risk that infection during pregnancy would result in a baby with microcephaly? And what can be done to prevent this?
Should there be an outbreak of the Zika virus in Africa, the continent will not be able to cope.
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Despite high rates of infection, the Zika outbreak would not have been particularly alarming had it not been for the sudden and – apparently associated – increase in the numbers of infants born with microcephaly.
The Aedes Aegypti mosquito is responsible for transmitting some flaviviruses, including Zika.
Ian Jacobs/Flickr
Jason Mackenzie, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
You might have heard the term flavivirus recently due to the outbreak of Zika virus. Zika, along with West Nile virus, dengue, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, belong to this family of virus.
Zika has reportedly been transmitted via blood transfusions and sex, so how worried should we be about it spreading?
from www.shutterstock.com.au
For a fairly non-descript virus Zika continues to surprise us. Zika has hit the headlines yet again with the news that there’s been transmission in Brazil of two cases by blood transfusion.
The Zika virus is suspected of causing this rare autoimmune disorder.
Jason Corneveaux/Flickr
Insecticides and mosquito nets only get you so far. Synthetic biologists are ready to take the battle against mosquito-borne disease to the level of DNA – which might spell the insects’ ultimate doom.