The Zika virus has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization. Some areas are describing it as “a pandemic in progress,” and are even advising women to delay getting pregnant in affected countries. The virus is suspected of causing thousands of babies to be born with underdeveloped brains, but there is so much we don’t know about the virus and its origins.

Zika Virus is spread by the Aedes mosquitoes. They can be found throughout the Americas except for Canada and Chile as it’s too cold for them to survive there. If they drink the blood of an infected person they then in turn infect other people they bite. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, before 2015, Zika virus outbreaks only occurred in areas of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. But in May 2015, Brazil issued alert regarding their first confirmed case of the Zika virus. Currently, outbreaks are reported in Barbados, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname and Venezuela. Deaths are rare and only one-in-five people infected are thought to develop symptoms. These include:mild fever, conjunctivitis, headache, joint pain, and a rash. Zika is a mosquito-born virus that has similar symptoms to dengue. However, while dengue can be so painful that it is sometimes called “breakbone fever,” it doesn’t cause microcephaly, which is when a baby is born with an abnormally small head, as their brain has not developed properly. The severity varies, but it can be deadly if the brain is so underdeveloped that it cannot regulate the functions vital to life.The link between Zika and microcephaly was strengthened recently when the virus was found in tissue samples from two Brazilian infants with microcephaly who died after birth, and two others who died in the womb.

Since there is no vaccination to prevent or specifically treat Zika infections, treat the symptoms. Get plenty of rest, drink fluids to prevent dehydration, take medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) to relieve fever and pain, and do not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Try to contact your healthcare provider and take the best possible care of yourself. Studies to develop a vaccination are underway but doctors are advising to avoid getting pregnant for a couple years in the affected countries. Hopefully, the virus will not affect the Olympics beings held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.