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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.