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To: Smokin' Joe

Is Zika a man made malady or has it always been around?


3 posted on 04/11/2016 9:49:59 PM PDT by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12)
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To: stars & stripes forever
Is Zika a man made malady or has it always been around?

I think the first reports were in Africa during the 1940s.
16 posted on 04/11/2016 11:17:05 PM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the Occupation Media. #2ndAmendmentMatters)
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To: stars & stripes forever; PA Engineer; Smokin' Joe
Is Zika a man made malady or has it always been around?

First of all, there are no "man made maladies" in the realm of pathogenic microorganisms.

The pattern of Zika suggests that it is a zoonotic disease--that is, an animal disease that has crossed into humans. This happens because humans move into habitats previously occupied only by animals, and the humans become exposed to diseases circulating among the animals in that habitat.

Unfortunately, since a known animal reservoir of zika is mosquitoes, it is a lot more prone to spread than a disease that only spreads via direct contact. If someone visits a country where there is Zika and comes home before symptoms develop, then gets a mosquito bite when virus is in the blood, that mosquito will get sick. Then, because the virus enters the mosquito saliva, at some point that mosquito will be contagious and spread Zika whenever it bites someone. In that way, it is easy for Zika to spread into areas distant from its original territory.

20 posted on 04/12/2016 3:12:12 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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