QuickTake
So Zika Is Back? Here’s the Story, in Two Minutes
The mosquito-borne virus has become a public health crisis as it spreads through the Americas.
The Zika Virus Explained in Two Minutes
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Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that makes about one in five infected people sick with rash, fever, joint pain, or pinkeye and has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, a neurological condition in which a newborn child’s head is significantly smaller than normal. Zika can cause the muscle-weakening disease Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults.
Akin to mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, Zika is commonly transmitted when someone with the virus is bitten by a mosquito, which then bites someone else. Mosquitoes can carry the virus across the Americas because of travel patterns. More than 1,600 people in the U.S. have been infected, including more than 430 pregnant women.