Zika Virus Paper

A woman who is pregnant can transmit the Zika virus to her baby. Babies who have been infected with the virus can be born with microcephaly, a birth defect that impacts head size and brain development.

The start of the video explains the origin of the propagation of the Zika virus, which uses the Aedes mosquito as a host, to aid in the dispersion of the virus by method of biting. Once the person has been bitten by the mosquito and contract Zika, the virus can continue to disseminate through sexual contact or from a pregnant woman to her fetus. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arrived to an important conclusion, Zika virus causes many malformation

The Zika virus has had a constant presence in the news for the past few months. This article describes Ana Gabriela do Prado Paschoal's struggles. She contracted the Zika virus while pregnant with her now three month old daughter Maria. Maria now suffers from brain lesions, stiff muscles, and brain damage. With the help of scans, imaging, and autopsies doctors learned that the Zika virus eats away at the fetal brain. It is responsible for shrinking or destroying the part of the brain that controls vision, thought process, and other basic functions.

The easiest way the Zika virus can be transmitted is by being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the two mosquitoes that generally carry dengue virus and chikunguya as well as the Zika virus carry the Zika virus (“Destination News – Asia”). With the rise people infected with the Zika virus, these two mosquitos are expected to expand to other countries (see figure

Whenever the news is on television, the public is always warned about a new virus or disease that is troubling society. The Zika virus has been around for quite some time and did not make waves when it was first introduced. However, that is something of the past. It is now making headlines because of the possible effects that it has on pregnant women and their babies. The Zika virus has become a public health crisis in a short amount of time. What was once just a minor illness has now transformed into something that has future parents afraid.

Although the Zika virus was discovered in 1947, in the past three years it has become an epidemic. The virus has caused illness to 65 countries, and is causing birth defects in newborn babies. It has become an outbreak and has spread all over Middle and South America. Not only does it cause problems in the present, but it brings major concerns for the future. Scientists believe that over time it will come and go, but that doesn’t mean all of the problems that come with it will be gone. The biggest issues is how it risks pregnant women and their unborn children.

There more 2,100 babies in Brazil have been born with microcephaly or other birth defects linked to the Zika. There are two type of Zika lineages: the African lineage and the Asian lineage. Zika is a group 4 which viruses possess negative-sense single-stranded RNA genomes. The deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses are well known members of this group, along with influenza virus, measles, mumps and rabies. The family is Flaviviridae this family include: hepaciviruses, hepatitis, pestiviruses, hemorrhagic syndromes, fatal mucosal disease, flavivirus, hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis, and the birth defect microcephaly. It is a very extremely rare case only fewer than 1,000 case per year shows up. Zika can spread by animal or insect bites or stings also by having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. It need bold government actions to help fight this virus. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. There are only about 1 in 5 people who become infected with Zika

“Zika virus disease (Zika) is a disease caused by the Zika virus, which is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Evidence also tie in Zika to sexual transmission from men to their partner. Although there is no currently evidence to sexual transmission from women to their partner. The virus is unusual distress for pregnant women because Zika can be pass on and surpass to relentless birth defect. The World Health Organization has stated the Zika virus an international public health emergency, suggested by rising affect that could produce birth defect.

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

This case study particularly on the topic I chose - Zika Virus is pandemic that affects everyone from children to adult, and from employers to employees. The overall health and safety issue, is that workers working in areas of active Zika transmission are liable to contract the virus and healthcare workers who may have been exposed to infected blood or other potentially infectious materials from people infected with Zika virus may require extreme protection. As of 2016, the illness cannot be prevented by medications or vaccines (Wikipedia, 2016). The new rules, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), urge employers of outdoor workers to inform employees of the risks of exposure to Zika through mosquito

Zika is a mosquito born virus that was first discovered by researchers studying monkeys in Uganda during the 1940s. By 1952 the virus was identified in humans and throughout the 1960s to 1980s small outbreaks were found across Africa and Asia. The Island of Yap reported the first large outbreak of Zika in 2007. In 2015 Zika spread to Brazil, The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, El Salvador, México, Paraguay, Suriname, and Guatemala. During this period Brazilian scientists discovered a link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome, causing the immune system to attack nerves. Later a link to microcephaly, which causes a baby to be born with an abnormally small head due to abnormal brain development. In 2016 Zika continues to spread throughout the Americas. This virus poses an extreme threat to pregnant women continuing to spread through sexual transmission and mosquitoes.

The “Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys… It was subsequently identified inhuman in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania”("Zika virus", 2016). However, unfortunately, it now has been reported in the United States as of 2016. The disease has been reported to cause potential neurological and auto-immune complications, as well as, increase the likelihood of babies being born with microcephaly or “a rare neurological condition in which an infant’s head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age and sex”("Microcephaly", 2016). Since the Zika virus is spread by mosquitos and their breeding sites it can pose a significant risk for the transmission of the virus, and prevention often relies on the source reduction of mosquitos themselves, which can often be difficult. “So far, 31 domestic cases have been reported all outside of the U.S. However, as warm weather approaches, the odds could be that local transmission of the mosquito-borne disease will begin to be seen (Bryant, 2016).

Zika virus, also known as ZikV, has been in the spotlight with several studies being carried out to better understand the effects of the virus on foetuses and newborns from infected mothers. This increased interest in the virus is as a result of a reported increase in the occurrence of microcephaly in Brazil, an occurrence which researchers suspect to be as a result of a corresponding global increase in the prevalence of this virus (Sarno et al. 2016; WHO 2016). Additionally, although a causal association has not yet been confirmed, there is an increasing consensus that the virus is behind not only this increase in microcephaly but also the observed current increase in the number of cases of Guillan-Barre syndrome (GBS) (Heymann et al. 2016; Schuler-Faccini et al. 2016). Furthermore, other reports have linked this virus to other neurological and Ophthalmological defects (de Paula Freitas et al. 2016; Martines et al. 2016; Mlakar et al. 2016) and a study by Sarno et al. (2016) have further linked it with hydrops foetal and foetal demise.

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne single-stranded RNA virus. It is in the family of Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus. This virus causes a mild illness similar to dengue. The first case of ZIKV was identified in Uganda in 1947. Cases of this virus were rare until 2007 when a major epidemic happened in Yap Island, Micronesia. Now, epidemics have happened in Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands, Brazil, and New Caledonia (Ioos et al., 2014).

Apparently, there are more than 3000 species of mosquitoes living today and it’s possible that any of those mosquitos we encounter may be infected with the Zika virus. Moreover, the Zika virus is extremely hazardous towards pregnant since it can lead to microcephaly which is a disorder that causes newborn babies to become retarded. On top of that, the Ebola is equally dangerous for all individuals who are being diagnosed this virus ascribed to how our organs will begin to fail