Categories: Post

Zika Virus: The Facts, The Fears and The Future

The current Zika Virus epidemic first began in Brazil last year, and has since spread to more than 25 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. With the World Health Organization declaring the virus to be a “public health emergency of international concern,” the CDC, along with state and local public health departments are bracing for potential cases of local transmission in the U.S. Illinois has already had 16 travel-associated cases of Zika, and now that the summer mosquito season is about to begin, what can we do to protect ourselves from Zika? Learn more about what we know about Zika—how the disease is spread, what the symptoms are, and how scientists have determined the link between the virus and a birth defect called microcephaly. This episode of Medill Newsmakers will also look toward the future—how public health officials and scientists are preventing further spread of the virus, and how the virus may impact the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

c2st

Recent Posts

Bridging Language and the Brain: An Interview with Keith Johnson, Ph.D.

Keith Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, studies how language…

3 weeks ago

Under the Sea: The Invisible Changes to Ocean Life

At a long-term monitoring site at Tatoosh Island in northern Washington, researchers noticed an unexpected…

1 month ago

Synthetic Biology as a Tool to Advance Human Health: An Interview with an Expert

I remember sitting down a few years ago to write what was the most important…

2 months ago

GLP-1 Drugs and Eating Disorders: A Hidden Risk in the Weight Loss Revolution

In 2021, the FDA announced that they had approved Wegovy, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, as…

2 months ago

Vaccines: No Risk, No Reward

Vaccines are tools of modern medicine used in keeping us safe and healthy from the…

2 months ago

The Secret Psychology of Smiles

Did you know your smile is one of the most powerful social signals you have?…

2 months ago