Everything you need to know about Zika-the deadliest virus around

Zika is not a recently discovered virus. It has been there for quite a while now, spreading quietly among the mankind. So why is it making so much of noise now? Until few months back, Zika was a quiet virus that did not do anything except causing mild fever and rashes. It is only when about 1 million people were affected in Brazil in 2015, that WHO declared a public health emergency in February 2016. Brazil and Polynesian Islands are on Zika high alert. Recent news reports said it is spreading fast and India is not free from its risk.

While we are still safe, precaution is always better than cure. Be well prepared before it strikes. Here are the answers to your questions and doubts.

What is it

Zika is a mosquito borne virus. It causes mild fever, rash, body ache and sometimes coupled with nausea and diarrhoea. The virus flushes itself out of the system within a week.

In some severe cases, people infected with it were later disgnosed with Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological condition in which people’s immune system damage their nerve cells.

It is also linked with terrible birth defect called microcephaly, which is characterised by shrunken head and incomplete brain and leads to the death of the baby with hours of being born.

When was it discovered

It was discovered in 1947 when it got separated from the monkey of the Zika forest.

How it spreads

It is not a contagious disease. It will spread only when a mosquito bites an infected person and the virus carrying mosquito bites a healthy person.

It also attacks the foetus of a pregnant woman if she is infected.

Precautions

1. For women living in pandemic areas, they are advised not to conceive anytime soon. They can conceive in the near future as the virus is flushed out of the system after a week.

2. Pregnant women are advised not to visit pandemic areas.

(Image credits: Reuters)