Just when we have the Ebola outbreak contained it seems that a new disease has appeared from the mysterious deep jungles of Africa. Zika is a mosquito borne infection that was first identified in Uganda in 1947. It is now prevalent in Latin America - including Mexico -and is fast expanding throughout the Caribbean and the Islands of the Pacific. It is of specific concern because this August the Olympics will be held in Rio and thousands of world visitors are expected to be exposed to contact with mosquitoes that have the capacity to distribute the disease widely.
Zika has mild, flu like symptoms for most people, but it's greatest danger is to pregnant women. When it is contracted during pregnancy it often results in a child born with microcephaly. This manifests itself in a smaller than usual head, resulting in restricted brain growth with the result that the child lives a handicapped life. That is a fear that strikes deeply into the heart of most intending parents.
The race is on to develop a vaccine but that is unlikely to happen before this year's Olympics and for Australian families the risk is close at hand. The mosquito that harbours Zika is precisely the same species that hosted Malaria and Dengue Fever - and Zika has been found to be active in Samoa, Tonga and many of the Pacific Islands visited by cruise ships. There is a suspicion that it may have reached Papua New Guinea and if so it seems inevitable that it will cross into north Queensland.
The advice given by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) is to avoid pregnancy if you visit a location where Zika is active. In fact, some countries are advising women to delay pregnancy for at least two years because it is not known how long the virus takes to exit from the human system. At this stage science is still probing and we are not aware of what the ramifications of this disease may deliver.
It seems certain that Ziva will cause a degree of social and economic change. If Zika is confirmed as being present in north Queensland mosquitoes it is likely that the islands of the Barrier Reef will lose holiday appeal and the cruise industry may steer clear of visits to Pacific islands. Perhaps we will see renewed interest in Europe and the colder parts of the world. Women of child bearing age are likely to become risk sensitive and this is a disease that nature restricts to both the tropics and sub tropics - in areas where Malaria is common.
There seems a near certainty that Zika will cause an increase in abortions. A woman taking all precautions against mosquitoes when visiting a suspect area is going to be very suspicious of even a mild cold upon return and should that visit result in an unexpected pregnancy many may choose to abort rather than risk the birth of a handicapped child.
The Olympic authorities in Rio are in a panic. Even the army has been mobilized to launch a war on mosquitoes and the city is being sprayed with insecticide and foraging teams are disposing of all forms of stagnant water to break the larvae cycle in which these pests breed. Unfortunately, screened windows and doors are not the usual form of protection common on buildings there and it is now probably too late to insulate the city in this manner.
Hopefully, science will eventually produce a vaccine and Zika will be brought under control, but the ever growing world population is putting pressure on what used to be undeveloped parts of the planet and it seems that Mother Nature may have many more " surprises " in store for us. So far we have been lucky. Back in the dark ages the world was ravaged by Bubonic Plague. Then in 1918 - at the end of the " Great War " - Spanish Flu decimated millions.
Perhaps Zika is nature's way of getting us to slow down the breeding cycle !
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