03/21/2016
Epidemic is the occurrence of multiple cases of disease than expected in a certain area or among a specific group of people over time. The Zika virus is on the rise in the United States. The first confirmed case was in November 2015. According to Miller (2016) there have been 116 confirmed Zika cases within the United States. Most of these cases the person contracted the virus by traveling to a Zika affected area.
The Zika virus was first discovered in 1947. Its named after the Zika forest in Uganda. The first human case of the virus was in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands According to "Zika Virus" (2016), “these are probably many more cases of the virus. Just a lot of them were not reported. Some people usually don’t get real sick to go to the hospital and rarely die from the virus. “
The Zika virus disease which is caused by the Zika Virus is usually spread to people by the bite of an infected Aedes Aegupti species mosquito. These mosquitos also spred the viruses dengue and chikungunya virus. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito is better known as the yellow fever mosquito. This mosquito bites during the day and they are small and black with white stripes on their back and on their legs.
The Zika virus is transmitted many different ways through the human population. According to "Zika Virus" (2016), the Zika virus can be transmitted through mosquito bites, from mother to child, sexual contact and through blood transfusion. The mosquitoes become infected with the virus when they feed on a person who already has the virus. Once the mosquito becomes infected with the virus it then spreads the virus to other people by biting them. A mother can transmit the Zika virus to her newborn child during the time of delivery also to her fetus during pregnancy. The Zika virus can also be transmitted through sexual contact. The man can spread the virus to his partner. The Zika virus is active longer in semen than in blood. Blood transfusion is rare...