(Sample Material) Study Kit on Current Affairs for UPSC Mains Examination
Science and Technology: Zika Virus
- Zika is a disease caused by Zika virus that is spread to people ‘primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
- About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika will get sick. For people who get sick, the illness is usually mild. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected.
- The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Symptoms typically begin 2 to 7 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
- Zika is primarily transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes.
- It can also be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby during pregnancy or around the time of birth.
- It can also be transmitted, through semen, blood and needles.
- Though the presence of virus is found in saliva, urine and breast milk transmission through these medium is not noticed.
- Anyone who is living in or travelling to an area where Zika virus is found who has not already been infected with Zika virus is at risk for infection, including pregnant women.
- Children born out of infected pregnant women are affected with microcephaly - an abnormally small head, often with consequent brain damage.
- Risk of direct transmission between people remote; but virus has been isolated in semen so sexual transmission cannot be ruled out.