Zika: Time for the next wave of sensationalized worry

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D. On the season (series?) finale of the X-Files (Season 10, episode 6) this week, all of humanity is being attacked by the Spartan virus, a disease that seems to turn off the human immune system and permits other diseases to kill us. This episode is built on our fears of an inevitable worldwide pandemic and, of course, the recent concerns over Zika virus. Zika is a virus spread by the Aedes mosquito. An adult who is infected may experience a “mild fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache.” Zika has been known since 1947 when the virus was found in a rhesus macaque being used for research on yellow fever in Uganda.…
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Featured Posts Politics Public Health emerging infectious disease epidemiology Zika Source Type: blogs