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The Spread Of The Zika Virus

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The Zika virus is a major, pressing virus that has not spread to America, but studies say it soon will. The Zika virus has been around since 1947, but in the past year, it has started to spread rapidly. Many people are becoming infected with the Zika virus, and women who are pregnant are giving birth to children with microcephaly (small heads). In the past six months, the Zika virus has spread from Southeast Asia and Africa to Brazil, where there was an outbreak last May. With time, dedication and knowledge, we can start to reduce the spread of Zika and help improve the lives of those infected.
The Zika virus hasn't always been a threat to society. It had been very docile for many years until the current outbreak began. “For decades it laid …show more content…

There are other, smaller ways that Zika can be spread, like through needle contact, but they are less common when it comes to spreading it. The mosquito itself is not infected, but when it bites an infected person, it then carries their blood. When a mosquito bites you, it spreads the blood from the infected person through your skin, thus getting you infected also. “The Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the same mosquito that spreads dengue and chikungunya” (Calaway). With all the people now becoming infected, the mosquitoes are able to spread Zika faster and faster, creating the epidemic we’re in. If a woman who is pregnant is bitten by a mosquito with Zika, the child can also be severely infected because the virus travels from mother to child and it can impair the way the child is growing in its mother’s stomach. Another way to spread Zika is through sexual intercourse. “In known cases of likely sexual transmission, the men had Zika symptoms, but the virus can be transmitted before, during, and after symptoms develop” (Transmission and Risks). The virus is present in semen longer then it is present in blood, which is another possible way to spread Zika. The last transmission form is blood-to-blood contact. If a person with an open wound comes into contact with another person who has had or has Zika, and they make blood to blood contact, they are likely to get the virus. The people who mainly have to worry about spreading or contracting Zika this way is medical professionals, and individuals who work in dangerous areas with an increased chance of

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