The Zika virus played the role of 2016's worst health story. At the center of that story was the virus’ heartbreaking link to microcephalic babies when it infected their pregnant mothers. But sometimes, the worst vectors can still be used for good.
As public health officials are gearing up for another season of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the Trump administration’s budget proposal is here with some very bad news: the administration wants to slash the Centers for Disease Control’s budget by 17%, including cuts to programs like the National Center on Birth…
The US Centers for Disease Control has released a sobering new study detailing the birth defect rates among pregnant American women infected by the Zika virus. It’s as bad as we feared.
Over the past few years, people have been freaking out about a plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, concerned that in addition to combatting the spread of Zika virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses the mosquitoes would usher in some sort of sci-fi catastrophe. Now, the British…
Earlier today, the World Health Organization declared that the Zika virus, along with its related neurological complications, no longer constitutes an international emergency. The announcement is a troubling development that could threaten important research, while also undermining those who are most affected, namely…
The future of public health in the United States was a hotly contested topic during the 2016 election, with the presidential candidates making bold promises and several important ballot initiatives up for grabs. Here’s how America voted, and what a Trump presidency means to your health.
The mosquito genocide is beginning. Millions of genetically modified versions of the useless vampire insects are being prepared for release in Brazil. If all goes according to plan, the mosquitoes will have a huge sex party and begin to kill off all of their natural counterparts.
To prevent Zika-infected mosquitoes from taking root in South Carolina, officials in Dorchester County gave the go-ahead to spray a powerful insecticide over the countryside. The effort resulted in the unexpected deaths of millions of bees at a time when these critical pollinators are struggling worldwide.
Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld Florida have all put up signs about mosquito prevention efforts today. The Florida theme parks will also start offering free mosquito repellant to any visitors who ask for it. But curiously you won’t find the one word that matters on any of the signs or handouts: Zika.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already issued one Zika-related travel advisory in the United States, but that soon may expand to one of our country’s largest summer party cities.
Zika is officially here, with fifteen confirmed cases in the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood over the past week. On Monday, the CDC told pregnant women not to travel to this neighborhood, marking the first time the government agency has issued such a travel warning within the United States.
This morning, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that 10 more people in Florida have contracted the Zika virus, likely through mosquito bites, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 14 cases. Citing the increase, the governor also asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mobilize an…
At a dramatic press conference held earlier today, Governor Rick Scott said Florida is the first state in the US to see locally transmitted Zika virus. The evidence is circumstantial at best, but officials aren’t taking any chances.
Models produced by researchers at Imperial College London indicate that the ongoing Zika epidemic in parts of Latin American will likely burn itself out within three years. Finally, we have some good news to share about this dreadful disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collecting semen from hundreds of Zika-infected men to figure out how long the sexually transmitted virus lingers in the body.
In an effort to learn more about the dreaded disease, the National Institutes of Health is funding a study in which a group of US athletes, coaches, and staff will be monitored for exposure to the Zika virus while attending the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Brazil.
Since the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that the Zika virus could cause microcephaly in newborns, the list of the effects of the virus only continues to grow.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has granted clinical trial approval for an experimental Zika vaccine. The drug, which will be tested on a small sampling of human participants, arrives a mere five months after the World Health Organization declared Zika a public health emergency.
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that Zika-infected women who are in their third trimester have virtually no chance of having children with microcephaly. Troublingly, the same study shows that women who exhibit no symptoms can still give birth to babies with brain abnormalities.
The Zika virus has officially spread to over 50 countries, including the United States. And like public health threats of the past, there are plenty of hucksters trying to sell “natural” remedies for Zika online. But they’re all bullshit.
