11 U.S. Troops Infected With Zika Virus This Year

USA Today: Military discloses at least 11 troops infected with Zika virus this year

At least 11 U.S. troops have been infected with the Zika virus since January, nearly all of whom traveled to countries where the mosquito-born illness is prevalent, a Pentagon health report published Friday disclosed.

In addition, four dependents of servicemembers — which can include spouses and children — and two military retirees contracted the illness, according to the report. It underscored the risks to military personnel of child-bearing age exposed to the virus during deployments.

A fetus infected with the Zika virus during the first three months of pregnancy has about a 1% to 13% chance of developing microcephaly, an abnormally small head usually caused by incomplete brain development, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the 17 infected are four women, though none were pregnant, said Dr. Jose Sanchez, deputy chief of Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch.

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WNU Editor: I am sure that the U.S. military is going to take precautions (see above video) .... they are not going to take any chances. But I feel for the people who live in the hot zones in Central and South America. All my contacts who live there are telling me the same thing .... no one is prepared for this.

U.S. Military To Monitor 190 Bases That Are Most At Risk For The Zika Virus

USA Today: Pentagon monitoring 190 bases most at risk for Zika

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department will monitor installations in 27 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico for mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus, according to a Pentagon memo.

Hoping to ward off spread of the potentially dangerous virus among troops and military family members, senior defense officials in March instructed installation managers to increase surveillance for certain mosquito species and to eradicate them in housing areas, near child-development and youth centers, around barracks and elsewhere.

According to the memo, 190 installations are located in areas where mosquitoes capable of carrying Zika — aedes aegypti, aedes albopictus and aedes polynesiensis — may spread during the summer.

The memo calls for monitoring, trapping, testing and eliminating water sources that can act as breeding grounds for the pests.

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More News On The Pentagon's Response To The Zika Virus

Zika threat hits home: Which U.S. military hubs are most at risk? -- Military Times
Meet the U.S. military super scientists fighting to destroy the Zika virus -- Military Times/Medill News Service
Darpa working on vaccines that can adapt to take on fast-changing viruses -- IBTimes
2 U.S. military members get Zika virus, both recovered -- AP
United States health officials warn of mass Zika virus infections in Puerto Rico -- State of the State Ks

A Look At The Impact On Tourism From The Zika Virus

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

There are currently 30 countries affected by Zika with those in the Americas (above) being most heavily affected. The infographic shows the amount in tourism income that the countries currently receives from international visitors - the amount they could also lose if there is a travel ban as a result of the virus

Daily Mail: Brazil and other countries with Zika virus could see income from tourism drop by up to $53.2billion in a single year

* There are currently 30 countries affected by Zika according to the CDC
* They have a total annual income of $53.2billion from international travellers
* Worries over the spread of virus could drastically reduce visitor numbers

Countries in the Americas, Oceania and Africa could stand to lose billions in tourism income due to Zika, the virus that causes deformities in newborns.
There are currently 30 countries in the world with active transmission of the disease, which is spread through Aedes mosquitoes.
However, with pregnant women and those looking to conceive warned against travelling to the affected regions, popular destinations including Mexico and Brazil could lose billions of dollars worth of revenue from tourism income.

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WNU Editor: There will be multiple impacts from the Zika virus. The tourism and economic impacts are now being calculated, but the biggest impact (by far) will be on health care, and taking care of those who will be born with the ailments that are associated with the Zika virus.

Update: This is worrisome .... Venezuela faces ‘worst-case scenario’ as Zika outbreak expands (Washington Post).

President Obama Rrequests $1.8 Billion From Congress To Combat The Zika Virus

Reuters: Obama seeks funds to fight Zika; sees no cause for panic

President Barack Obama will ask the U.S. Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds to fight Zika at home and abroad and pursue a vaccine, the White House said on Monday, but Obama also said there was no reason to panic over the mosquito-borne virus.

Zika, spreading rapidly in South and Central America and the Caribbean, has been linked to severe birth defects in Brazil and public health officials' concern is focused on pregnant women and women who may become pregnant.

Obama's request to Congress includes $200 million for research, development and commercialization of new vaccines and diagnostic tests for the virus.

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Update #1: Obama to ask Congress for $1.8 billion to combat Zika virus (Washington Post)
Update #2: Obama Asks Congress for $1.8 Billion to Combat Zika Virus (Bloomberg)

WNU Editor: In case anyone is hoping that this money will bring quick results .... think again .... U.S. health official: Widespread Zika vaccine not likely to be available for years (Reuters).

Americans Are Avoiding Latin America Because Of The Zika Virus

A woman looks on next to a banner as soldiers and municipal health workers take part in cleaning of the streets, gardens and homes as part of the city's efforts to prevent the spread of the Zika virus vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, February 6, 2015. REUTERS/JORGE CABRERA

Reuters: Exclusive: Zika virus discourages many Americans from Latin America travel

The rapidly spreading Zika virus is discouraging many Americans from traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean, with 41 percent of those aware of the disease saying they are less likely to take such a trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.

The poll is the latest sign the virus, suspected to be linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, could depress travel to popular cold-weather getaways in the coming months.

Airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report drops in bookings because of Zika, and analysts have downplayed the impact that newly sedentary parents-to-be could have on their revenue.

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WNU Editor: As predicted .... Americans are not going to travel to the Americas and the Caribbean for their vacations. This is going to severely impact countries that are already facing a recession, and when one factors the enormous costs that will be necessary to address this crisis .... we are not even close to seeing the end of this story.

Zika Virus: The Pentagon Will Relocate At-Risk Family Members Of Active-Duty Personnel And Civilian Defense Department Employees

Military Times: Zika virus: Pentagon will relocate at-risk family members

Pregnant family members of active-duty personnel and civilian Defense Department employees assigned to areas affected by the Zika virus will be offered voluntary relocation, a Defense Department official said Monday.

Responding to a growing concern over the “explosive” outbreak of Zika virus in South and Central America as well as the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command also is identifying ways to “support partner nations,” but has not yet received requests for help, DoD spokesman Marine Corps Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

Meanwhile, DoD researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Naval Medical Research units are stepping up efforts to develop vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments for Zika and related viruses, including dengue and chikungunya, according to DoD officials.

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WNU Editor: A prudent move.

WHO Declares Zika A Global Public Health Emergency

Time: WHO Declares Zika an International Public Health Emergency

The World Health Organization declared the spread of Zika and an associated birth defect an international public health emergency Monday, freeing funds to combat the disease.

“This is an extraordinary event,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan at a press conference Monday. “It poses a public health threat to other parts of the world and a coordinated international response is needed.”

Chan cited the pattern of the disease’s spread, the lack of a vaccine, and the large global population of mosquitoes that can carry the virus as factors that contributed to the declaration.

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More News On WHO Declaring Zika A Global Public Health Emergency

World Health Organization declares global emergency over Zika virus spread -- AP
Zika virus tied to birth defects is international emergency, WHO says -- Reuters
World Health Organisation declares Zika virus public health emergency -- The Guardian
WHO: Birth Defect Linked To Zika Virus Is 'Public Health Emergency' -- NPR
Zika-linked condition: WHO declares global emergency -- BBC
Zika virus outbreak IS a 'global public health emergency', says World Health Organisation, as graveyards and schools are desperately disinfected in South America -- Daily Mail
WHO declares birth defects linked to Zika virus a public health emergency -- USA Today
Exclusive - Brazil says Zika virus outbreak worse than believed -- Reuters
Brazil still unsure of how bad the country's Zika virus outbreak is -- The Guardian
Olympics nightmare: Athletes terrified of getting Zika in Rio -- AP
Zika-linked condition: Rio Olympics 'to go ahead' despite virus -- BBC
More Than 2,100 Pregnant Colombian Women Infected With Zika Virus -- Scientific American
5 Things to Know About Zika Virus -- WSJ
WHO declares international public health emergency over Zika outbreaks -- Ars Technica
How Zika Virus Can Spread -- Carolyn Kormann, New Yorker
CDC director: What we're doing about the Zika virus -- CNN
How to protect yourself from Zika virus -- FOX News
From 14 Cases To 4 Million: The Insidious Spread Of Zika Virus -- Here and Now

The Zika Virus Is Becoming The Worst Crisis In The Americas

Miami Herald: Zika swamps Venezuela’s ailing healthcare system

* As zika swamps Venezuela, authorities remain silent
* Congress calls the faltering healthcare system a ‘humanitarian crisis’
* Likely worst crisis in the Americas

MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA: When Yelitza Oberto’s legs started cramping a few days before New Years, she thought she was paying the price for standing in line for hours to get a car battery in her lack-of-everything Venezuela.

It soon turned out she had the virus of the moment: Zika. No drug would alleviate her fever, headache, skin rash and painful joints. By January, she couldn’t even walk by herself.　

Oberto was taken to the Maracaibo University Hospital, the largest public health facility in western Venezuela, where she was rushed to the ICU. There are currently 26 other patients like Oberto in intensive care at the hospital alone. One of them is a 17-year-old woman partially paralyzed.

The latest crisis to swamp Venezuela’s struggling healthcare system is being carried by an army off mosquitoes. Venezuela’s emergency rooms are filling up with Zika patients.　Brazil has received international attention for Zika infections there but some civil society groups and medical organizations say that with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans suffering from the virus, the country may be facing the worst Zika crisis in the Americas.

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WNU Editor: The focus in the above article is on Venezuela and its inability to counter the impact of the Zika virus. But truth be told .... no one is prepared for this crisis .... and it is spreading quickly.

Latin America's Political And Economic Problems Aid In The Spread Of The Zika Virus

Financial Times: Zika virus: Latin America’s ills compound crisis

Mosquito-borne disease finds fertile ground in economic and political dysfunction

Isla de León, a slum on the outskirts of Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, is a lesson in how to manufacture and transmit the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Ramshackle hovels with dirt floors, crooked wooden walls and zinc roofs line sun-baked unpaved streets. In the rainy season, conditions resemble the swamp on which the neighbourhood was built.

“Of course the mosquitoes are a problem, especially at night,” says Ingrid Tordecillos, 24, pointing at the pools of green water that flank her house, where flies skate across the surfaces.

She has already suffered from three attacks of Zika and two of her three children have fallen ill from the virus, which has been linked to devastating birth defects and neurological problems in adults.

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WNU Editor: This crisis is going to devastate the tourism industry in these countries. The press is focused on the health concerns (as they should) .... but as this virus spreads the impact will become economic, and then political.

World Health Organization: Zika Virus 'Spreading Explosively'

CNN: WHO leader: Zika virus 'spreading explosively'

(CNN)The Zika virus "is now spreading explosively" around the Americas, the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday, calling the level of alarm over the disease "extremely high."

"The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told her organization's executive board members. "We need to get some answers, quickly."

The mosquito-borne disease is now in "23 countries and territories in the region," according to Chan. While it's been around in some form for decades, alarms have been raised only recently about Zika's suspected connection with "birth malformations and neurological symptoms."

Read more ....

More News On The World Health Organization's Warnings That The Zika Virus Is 'Spreading Explosively'

Zika virus could become 'explosive pandemic' -- BBC
Zika has 'explosive pandemic potential', experts warn, amid fears it may have spread to common mosquito -- The Independent
Zika virus spreading 'explosively', says World Health Organisation -- The Guardian
Zika Virus ‘Spreading Explosively’ in Americas, W.H.O. Says -- NYT
WHO: Zika virus ‘spreading explosively,’ ‘level of alarm extremely high’ -- Washington Post
WHO says extremely alarmed by Zika, could reach 4 million cases -- Reuters
Zika epidemic on US doorstep spurs vaccine hunt -- CNBC
Zika virus: WHO sets up emergency team for 'explosive' outbreak -- BBC
Everything You Need to Know About the Zika Virus Outbreak -- ABC News