The WHO declared a global emergency regarding Zika virus yesterday, putting it in the same category of concern as Ebola.
Currently, there is no vaccine or medication to stop Zika. The only way to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the infection.
Apparently Zika can also be transmitted sexually. There was recently a sexually transmitted case in the United States and French investigators observed Zika virus in men's sperm during an outbreak in Franch Polynesia several years ago.
At this point, they still haven't conclusively demonstrated that Zika causes the dramatically increased microcephaly rates being seen in Brazil. But as the WHO says, the world health authorities can't wait for that confirmation, they would be crucified for delaying if they did.
It's a big deal. My understanding is that something like one in 40 live births in Brazil during the last few months are microcephalic. And that isn't spread evenly over the country, some regions are much worse hit than others.
There's also a fear that other mosquito species could carry the Zika virus, which is still unconfirmed.
Right now, it looks like Canada is the only western hemisphere country where Zika isn't expected to spread. But much of Canada is overrun with misquitoes during the summer. (Different species though.)
Meahwhile, researchers are working on solution by using Wolbachia bacteria to infect mosquitoes and block the transmission of viruses like Zika:
https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/the-bacteria-that-could-fight-zika-virus
I'm a little concerned about how long the birth defect danger persists after infection. Does an infected person ever get rid of the virus entirely or is it always going to be in their bodies? Will it still be dangerous to developing fetuses if it isn't actively replicating? Will a woman who contracted a mild Zika infection 20 years ago still be at risk of birthing a deformed baby?
That isn't being seen in places like Polynesia where Zika was widespread as a minor flu-like disease years ago. But Polynesia didn't experience the birth-defects either. We may be seeing a new mutated strain of Zika in Brazil that's much more devastating. Unfortunately, well-intentioned but terribly-written Brazilian law designed to prevent abuses of genetic information, currently prevents Brazilian researchers from giving other researchers samples of the new Zika so that it can be characterized and sequenced. (I hear that some Brazilian researchers might be sending samples to the American CDC and to the WHO in Geneva illegally, under the table, risking felony convictions in Brazil for doing it.)
Wouldn't the simpler solution be to get rid of all invasive varieties of mosquitoes that target humans?
Experience shows that misquitoes can be supressed but never entirely eliminated. They are determined little buggers.
