US, Brazil launch campaigns against spread of Zika virus

The Washington Post (2/13, A1, Sun, Dennis) reported that global health officials “are mobilizing to battle the fast-spreading Zika virus, sending rapid-response teams to affected regions, issuing travel warnings for pregnant women, accelerating vaccine trials and even deploying mosquito-fighting troops to hard-hit areas in Brazil.” The Post explained that, having been “stung by criticism that the world’s response to the Ebola epidemic was halting and disjointed, officials in Latin America, the United States and Europe say they are determined to do better against a new foe that, in some ways, is more daunting than the hemorrhagic virus that killed 11,000 people in West Africa.” CDC Director Tom Frieden said, “Mosquito control requires meticulous attention to detail, trained staff and, like other parts of public health, it has to be done day in and day out.”

The New York Times (2/12, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) reported on its front page that “scientists say an explosive spreading of Zika is extremely unlikely in the continental United States.” Still, the Zika-carrying mosquito is “tenacious and relatively impervious to broad outdoor spraying.” CDC Director Thomas Frieden has called the Aedes aegypti “the cockroach of mosquitoes,” since “it lives indoors around people and hides in dark places.” The Times added that Frieden “said the CDC planned to put together teams of experts to help states handle clusters of cases” this summer.

In a separate article, the New York Times (2/12, Chan, Subscription Publication) reported that the World Health Organization said Friday that scientists are “weeks, not years” away from developing a test to detect Zika, “but large-scale clinical trials for a potential vaccine are at least 18 months away.”

Meanwhile, USA Today (2/12) reported that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that “at this point there are no cases of locally transmitted Zika in the continental United States.” However, he said that he would not be surprised if that changes.

For more information, visit the AMA’s Zika Virus Resource Center.

Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 2-16-16