A Syracuse infectious disease expert believes that four Central American nations are justified in warning their citizens to delay pregnancy as a precaution against the recent outbreak of the Zika virus. The virus has made its way to the southern United States, prompting some alarmist rhetoric from citizens. Chief of Infectious Disease at Upstate Medical University Timothy Endy believes their worries aren’t unwarranted.
"We knew it was an emerging virus, but honestly, the current outbreak in Brazil and the types of birth defects that are occurring was unexpected."
Endy says we’ve seen similar outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease before. He says Zika is transmitted by the same mosquitos as the Chikungunyavirus, which had previously made the jump from Southeast Asia to South America.
"Zika is following the same path. It's using a very similar mosquito vector introduced into Brazil, a large population area, and now has spread through Nicaragua, Colombia, going through the Mediterranean. We've had case reports of Zika in Ecuador.”
Endy says the virus was first discovered in a Uganda's Zika forest nearly 70 years ago, but didn’t begin to spread rapidly until it made its way to Southeast Asia. The resulting geographical differences have led to different strains of the virus.
"So there is really two lineages called the African lineage and Southeast Asia lineage. What really would be important to know is if this virus had mutated dramatically and the Brazilian strains are much different. We don't know the answer to that, but I'm sure that data will be forthcoming."
So why is this outbreak spreading? Endy says the answer is global warming. The changing planet has given mosquitoes a habitat in which to flourish.
"There was a study done a couple years ago by an investigator from Florida which estimated that for every one degree centigrade in global temperature, there's a 50 to 100 miles increase, both northern and southern, in the distribution of these tropical-type mosquitoes."
Right now, the CDC recommends that pregnant women and women looking to become pregnant should exercise caution when traveling to countries containing the virus. Endy believes that Central New Yorkers can breathe a sigh of relief, though, because Zika-transmitting mosquitoes are only native to tropical regions.