What Is Zika Virus? Can It Be Stopped?

What is Zika?

Zika is a virus spread primarily through the bite of the Aedes mosquito -- the same species that spreads dengue. First identified in a rhesus monkey in 1947, the virus was isolated for the first time in 1968. Infection first took hold in Africa -- in Nigeria, then in the Central African Republic, Egypt, Gabon and Uganda -- and then Asia, affecting India, Thailand, Vietnam and more.

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has now grade 24 countries with a 'Level 2' health warning because of Zika, advising travellers to be "extra vigilant to protect themselves" from mosquito bites.

How Does It Compare To Other Diseases?

Around 20 percent of those infected with the Zika virus become ill, with common symptoms including fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and headaches. Although the virus rarely causes death it has been responsible for a spike in babies being born with microcephaly, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development.

Before the virus hit Brazil the number of babies born with microcephaly was 156 a year -- a number that increased to 4,000 between October 2015 and January 2016. This spike has been attributed to Zika. A similar spike has been observed in babies born with Guillain-Barre Syndrome -- a rare condition of the nervous system that causes rapid-onset muscle weakness.

Ebola, on the other hand, is far more deadly -- there have been 28,638 cases of Ebola and 11,316 deaths, with symptoms including nausea, diarrhoea, bleeding, severe weight loss and intense pain. Ebola has a fatality rate of 71 percent -- 51 percent more than the mere infection rate of Zika.

A two-month-old baby with microcephaly is measured at a hospital in Recife, Brazil. The baby's mother was diagnosed with the Zika virus during pregnancy. In the last four months, authorities in Brazil have recorded more than 4,000 cases in which the Zika virus has led to microcephaly in infants

Mario Tama/Getty Images

How To Stay Safe

There's currently no vaccine or medication to treat Zika infections, but there are ways to treat the symptoms: drinking plenty of fluids, getting rest, and taking medicines such as paracetamol to relieve fever and pain. Governments in Jamaica, Brazil, Colombia and El Salvador have also advised women to delay pregnancy.

Many suggest waging a war on mosquitos. As the Aedes mosquito resides mostly near stagnant pools, puddles and buckets of water, removing this stagnant water may reduce their number. Pregnant women have been advised not to travel to areas affected by the virus. 

For those who can't avoid such areas, the WHO suggests using insect repellent; covering as much of the body as possible with light-coloured clothing; emptying, cleaning or covering containers that can hold water and sleeping under mosquito nets.