Zika emergency status a cause for alert, not alarm
Feb 04, 2016 01:55 am UTC| Health
Overnight, World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan declared the outbreak of Zika virus a public health emergency. So what does this mean? This is the fourth time the WHO has declared a state of...
Explainer: what is Guillain-Barré syndrome and is it caused by the Zika virus?
Feb 04, 2016 01:55 am UTC| Health
The recent outbreak of Zika virus in South America has been a cause of concern. This is not because Zika itself is a serious condition, but because it is believed to be linked to birth defects when expectant mothers are...
Three ways synthetic biology could annihilate Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases
Feb 03, 2016 14:08 pm UTC| Health
In just a few short weeks, Zika has shot from being an obscure infection to a headline-hitting public health disaster. The virus is spreading rapidly across the Americas (and potentially beyond), is suspected of being...
Why don't we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?
Feb 02, 2016 14:12 pm UTC| Health
A blood-sucking, disease-spreading, whining creature is always going to be a hard sell, even to nature lovers. And the dreaded mosquito is now the prime suspect behind the sudden arrival and explosive spread of Zika virus...
The human cost of Zika is clear, but will Brazil's economy suffer too?
Feb 02, 2016 12:08 pm UTC| Health Economy
It is predicted that as many as 4m people in the Americas could become infected with Zika virus this year. While the virus only causes mild symptoms in adults, it is suspected to have been behind a big increase in the...
Zika virus: mosquitoes and travel patterns will determine spread of virus
Feb 02, 2016 11:20 am UTC| Health
Sahotra Sarkar, Professor of Philosophy and Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin On January 28, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Zika virus, a mosquito-borne infection, was spreading...
Zika: a rare benign virus suddenly turns nasty, and heads for the US
Feb 02, 2016 06:46 am UTC| Health
Virologists have been expressing concern about Zika virus for a couple of years now, but its only with its arrival in Puerto Rico during the holiday season that it has really started to make the news. Some of the...
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