Whatever happened to Zika?

From Yahoo Finance
June 13, 2018

Three years ago, the Zika virus was making nearly daily headlines — its devastating effects on babies born to mothers who were infected by the virus triggered global public emergencies and thousands of canceled trips to Latin America and the Caribbean. Even some Olympians decided against participating in the 2016 Games because of the risk of getting bitten by a mosquito and becoming infected by Zika in Rio de Janeiro.

Now the infection has all but disappeared from the media landscape and conversation.

The Zika virus was first reported in the Western Hemisphere in 2015, just as the West African Ebola virus epidemic was declining. Though it was initially believed to be the result of a well-known related pathogen, the dengue virus, or possible exposure to a toxic insecticide, it soon became clear to clinicians and researchers that it was in fact a newly emergent virus.

Zika spread rapidly from northeastern Brazil to other South American countries, through Central America and up to the Caribbean, leaving a large number of people infected. The symptoms typically were mild and nonspecific — rash, fever and joint pain. Many of those infected had no symptoms at all.

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