The Zika Virus

What is a virus? A virus is, “an infectious disease that is capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, animals, or plants” (“Virus”). In simple terms, this means that it is something that attacks an organism’s cells, takes over the healthy cells and creates more infected cells in return. In general, the main difference between a bacteria and a Virus is; bacteria can thrive on its own without a living host, while a virus needs a living organism to live in. Understanding how a virus works will make the Zika virus much easier to comprehend. There are three main categories that need to be understood in order to understand the Zika virus; the overall medical aspects of the disease,

The three different medical aspects important to this virus are the symptoms, transmissions, and treatments. As covered earlier, the symptoms of the Zika virus are almost identical to the symptoms of the influenza virus; with the most common symptoms being: “fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes, headache, and muscle pain” (“Symptoms”). Another detail is that the virus symptoms will rarely force the infected persons to go to the hospital; and out of those admitted to the hospital, the infected will seldom die from the Zika virus. However, the Zika virus has a serious chance of negatively affecting a baby if it’s mother has contracted the Zika virus during the pregnancy. “The effects include microcephaly and various other major birth defects such as eye defects, hearing loss and impaired growth” (“Transmission & Risks”) as well. Another problem with the Zika virus is that once somebody is infected, the virus will be in the body for up to 6 months. This means that the infected person can be contagious to others during that entire time period. With that being said, there are 3 ways that the virus is transmitted, through sexual intercourse, from mother to child, and through mosquito bites. An infected person can pass along the Zika virus to their partner even if the infected person is experiencing no symptoms at the time. Now if the virus is given to the female and she becomes

Since then, the virus has traveled worldwide, hitting “all of the Americas, parts of Oceania, and small parts of Africa and Asia” (“All Countries & Territories with Active Zika Virus Transmission”). On the Western Hemisphere the Virus has spread to almost every country of both North and South America, totaling 48 different countries. While on the east hemisphere, there are a few countries from Oceania infected, Cape Verde of Africa, and Singapore of Asia, totaling ten countries.. As seen with the number of countries infected; the Western Hemisphere has much more Zika virus cases than that of the eastern hemisphere. In addition to the spread of the Zika virus around the world, in “America the virus has infected 4 states much more than the others; Texas, California, Florida, and New York” (“Maps of Zika in the United