By Leila Gray / UW Medicine
A study has found that one in four nonhuman primates infected with the Zika virus early in pregnancy miscarried, even though the animals showed few signs of infection. The study was conducted by researchers in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Oregon, and Texas
By Leila Gray / UW Medicine
“Current criteria using head size to diagnose Zika-related brain injury fail to capture more subtle brain damage that can lead to significant learning problems and mental health disorders later in life,” said Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf, Professor Global Health and Obstetrics and Gynecology in the University of Washington's Schools of Public Health and Medicine, who specializes in maternal and fetal infections. “We are diagnosing only the tip of the iceberg.”
By Emma Grey Ellis
To talk about Zika virus control is to talk about money. Vaccine development, mosquito abatement, and even the distribution of DEET repellant takes (and currently lacks) major federal dollars. When, last week, the US Department of Health and Human Services declared Zika a public health emergency in Puerto Rico, it was in part a means to a better-funded end.
Rebecca Harrington, Tech Insider
Zika virus has finally made its way to the US mainland, and the virus is now spreading locally in Miami. That means people are getting the virus from American mosquitoes, not just ones that have bitten them while they're abroad.
More than 2.7 billion people live in areas where the Zika Virus may soon spread, with potentially devastating effects for infants born in those areas. In response, faculty from across the University of Washington are working to stop the spread and effects of the Zika virus using a variety of approaches and disciplines. Here are some examples of their work, some of which is funded and some of which has not yet been funded.
By Maggie Fox
A new global map calculating when and where Zika virus is likely to spread shows 2 billion people could be in the Zika zone.
Nearly 300 million people in the Americas live in areas where the mosquitoes that spread Zika thrive, and more than 5 million babies a year are born to women living in these areas, the team at the University of Washington, Oxford University and elsewhere report in the journal ELife.
By Nsikan Akpan
A third of the world’s population is at risk of catching the Zika virus, according to a new study led by scientists at Oxford University in England.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — In its brief lifespan, the mosquito that carries the Zika virus is caught in a race: Will it pass the disease to humans before it dies?
Weather might make the difference. Scientists say the hotter it gets, the more likely the insect can spread disease.
By Molly Shen
SEATTLE -- On the heels of the World Health Organization declaring a public health emergency related to the Zika virus, local scientists said they are already working on a cure. And if they're able to treat Zika, it could also mean a cure for viruses ranging from West Nile to Ebola, to the common cold.
Scientists at biotech company Kineta and the University of Washington are developing the compound. Just like antibiotics treat bacterial infections, their antiviral drug would fend off a range of viruses.
By Lydia O'Connor
The factors leading to the current Zika outbreak won't be clear for some time, but environmental health experts say there's a good chance such infectious diseases will become more common as the global climate warms.
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