(task) Zika do's and don'ts: Our view

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health

> http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/02/zika-virus-mosquitoes-pregnant-olympics-editorials-debates/79605088/ <http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/02/zika-virus-mosquitoes-pregnant-olympics-editorials-debates/79605088/>
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> Zika do's and don'ts: Our view
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> Mysterious virus, new to the Americas, requires candor, concern and action.
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> If it’s possible to do the right thing and send the wrong message at the same time, the World Health Organization has managed the feat.
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> Monday's declaration </story/news/2016/02/01/who-health-emergency-zika/79647164/> that the Zika virus constitutes an international public health emergency will help mobilize resources and action. But the agency's language in the days leading up to its meeting in Geneva — that the virus is “spreading explosively” in the Americas, and that “the level of alarm is extremely high” — served more to frighten than illuminate. The WHO, which initially slumbered while the deadly Ebola virus was gaining a foothold </story/opinion/2015/06/09/ebola-world-health-organization-g7-cdc-editorials-debates/28759663/> in Africa, might be overcompensating for its bumbling performance in 2014 that cost lives.
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> As for the appropriate reaction in the USA, it's worth noting that while Ebola was an epidemic in Africa, it was never much of a threat to this country. Zika — which is not deadly but has been linked to a serious birth defect — is already in the Western Hemisphere and will likely travel to the USA. What's needed is not panic but enough global concern to energize swift and decisive action.
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> Facts can provide the best perspective.
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> The Zika virus, discovered in 1947 in Uganda <http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/s1231-zika.html>, spread for decades through parts of Asia and Africa, largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. Last year, Zika appeared in Brazil, where more than a million people have been infected </story/news/2016/01/28/who-warns-zika-spread/79451430/>, and it has already spread to more than two dozen countries <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/latest-zika-virus-recommendations-cdc-advisory-expanded-28/story?id=36664447> in South and Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 30 cases </story/news/2016/01/28/who-warns-zika-spread/79451430/> have appeared in the USA, all imported by travelers from affected countries.
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> Most of those who come down with the virus won't even know it. About one in five <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/health/what-is-zika-virus.html> will feel a mild flu-like illness. The real threat of Zika is to pregnant women and unborn babies. Since Zika took hold in parts of Brazil, more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly — 25 times the number reported in 2014 — have been reported in newborns there.
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> Microcephaly is a devastating neurological condition that causes malformed, small heads and often brain damage in newborns. There is no cure. While Zika has not been proved as the cause, the increasing numbers strongly suggest a link. A potential link is also suspected to several cases of Guillain-Barre <http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/colombia-venezuela-zika-links-guillain-barre-36605238>, a rare condition that can cause paralysis in adults.
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> Zika is spread by certain types of mosquitoes, and possibly by sexual activity </story/news/2016/02/02/texas-reports-first-case-usa-sexual-transmission-zika-virus/79708774/>. The mosquitoes bite an infected person, then carry the virus to others. With the 2016 Olympics set for Brazil this summer, travel between the U.S. and affected countries will increase, and some travelers will surely return home carrying the virus.
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> The good news for America is that a related virus carried by the same mosquitoes, dengue fever, has shown up in the continental U.S. — but always in short-lived outbreaks confined to small areas, such as south Texas in 2005 <http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/epidemiology/index.html#us> or several Florida counties <http://v/> in recent years. That history — plus the widespread use of air conditioning, screens and effective mosquito control in the USA — leads top public health experts to believe that the disease will not spread widely and rapidly here.
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> The U.S. government, with its considerable resources, ought to commit to finding a more effective test to diagnose Zika, determine whether there is a point in pregnancy when the virus is most dangerous to a fetus, and work diligently on a vaccine, which could take years to produce. Another innovative approach is the release of genetically modified male mosquitoes, which pass a gene to offspring that kills them before they reach adulthood.
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> The U.S. advisory, issued last month against travel by pregnant women <http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/s0315-zika-virus-travel.html> to stricken countries, was a smart move that the WHO should look at carefully. Americans should know that while an explosive epidemic here is highly unlikely, Zika, like West Nile virus, could become a fact of life in this country.
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> For now, the Zika virus is a mysterious and wily enemy. Prompt action is needed, as well as messages from public health officials that are high on candor and low on alarmism.
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> USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board </reporters/opinion.html>, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.
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