The Zika Virus

The Zika Virus — page 1 — CHAPTER ONE TAKING ZIKA SERIOUSLY In late 2015 Jade Coelho de Miranda was a 20 year old student at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil She often visited a park near her school The park swarmed with mosquitoes but at first she did not worry about them Then she developed a red rash over much of her body The rash worried her so she told her father about it He encouraged her to check into the hospital After examining and testing de Miranda doctors determined she was infected with the Zika virus She was soon experiencing the standard symptoms of Zika She developed muscle pain and a fever Then she started having trouble moving her hands They felt as if they were frozen in place Even her eyes felt irritated Mosquitoes ability to spread diseases makes them among the planet's most dangerous animals

The Zika Virus — page 2

The Zika Virus — page 3 — Soon de Miranda's father also became sick A Zika carrying mosquito had bitten him too but his illness was not limited to the common Zika symptoms For him the CASES LIKE MY DAD S WORRY ME THE MOST AS ZIKA HAS A DIFFERENT EFFECT ON EACH PERSON SOME PEOPLE MIGHT DEVELOP A RARE SYNDROME LIKE HE DID Zika virus led to Guillain Barré syndrome a rare disorder in which the body's own immune system attacks the nerves He JADE COELHO DE MIRANDA SPEAKING ABOUT THE GUILLAIN BARRÉ SYNDROME HER FATHER DEVELOPED AS A RESULT OF HAVING THE ZIKA VIRUS experienced extreme weakness and tingling in his fingers toes ankles and wrists that lasted for three months MOSQUITOES AND DISEASE Both de Miranda and her father recovered but they were far from the only victims of the Zika virus It did not stop in Brazil By 2016 the Mosquitoes bite because they feed on blood The protein in blood is necessary for many female mosquitoes to produce eggs A mosquito can pick up viruses or other disease carrying organisms from the blood of the animal on which it is feeding It can then transmit the disease to another animal or even to another species Mosquitoes transmit a variety of diseases including Zika malaria yellow fever chikungunya and dengue fever Different types of mosquitoes transmit different diseases virus had spread worldwide As it appeared in one country after another scientists began noticing disturbing trends Some pregnant women who

The Zika Virus — page 4 — became infected with Zika were giving birth to children with major medical problems Researchers scrambled to learn more about the link between the virus and these serious birth defects FROM UGANDA TO THE REST OF THE WORLD The virus was discovered in 1945 in the Zika Forest of Uganda a country in east Africa In the Zika Forest mosquitoes carrying the virus bit and infected local monkeys Only rarely did the mosquitoes bite and infect humans Over the following decades health care providers The Zika Forest has been a site of virus research for decades ZUIKA FOREST PROPERTY OF GANDA WIRUS RESEARCH INSTITUTE UVRI P O BOX 49 ENTEBBE TEL 0454 32053

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