We spent a lot of time a few years back worrying about the Ebola virus, probably needlessly. We may need to worry
about the Zika virus:
The Zika virus’s health effects generally are described as mild – flu-like symptoms for those that show symptoms at all – or not yet certain, with references to Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which causes paralysis, or microcephaly, an often devastating birth defect.
But the linkage to Guillain-Barré, an autoimmune disorder first brought to the American public’s attention three decades ago as a reaction to swine flu vaccine, isn’t new to the current outbreak. Researchers raised the likelihood of a Zika-Guillain-Barré connection two years ago after an outbreak of the virus in French Polynesia, the first time the disease had spread to a population that could be tracked and treated.
Officials in Florida
are already on alert:
Florida Gov. Rick Scott expanded the state of emergency to a fifth county today after the discovery of Zika virus cases there.
There are currently 12 people diagnosed with the Zika virus in Florida, up from nine people on Wednesday, Scott said during a news conference. The five counties under a state of emergency are Broward, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Lee and Santa Rosa.
All of those diagnosed were infected while out of the United States, in areas where transmission of the Zika virus is ongoing, Scott said.
At this point, the mosquitoes that carry the virus aren't here, but it's a good bet they will make it to the United States. Something to watch this summer.
5 comments:
It wouldn't be an exciting year in our country without a new health scare. The American media at its finest.
Forget building a wall; we need a coast-to-coast line of bug zappers on the southern border.
move to SoCal... we dont have skeeters here.
...yet.
Brian; they'll have to get a lot more water in Socal to get many skeeters of any kind, let alone the kinds that carry this. One of many nice things about the area to balance out the smog and street gangs.
Come to think of it, since there is an arid zone pretty much from Mexico to Canada between the Rockies and the Sierra Madre, is it likely Washington and Oregon are pretty safe? Well, at least until a single shipment of fruit with skeeter eggs goes there, I guess.
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