Quote: (02-14-2016 11:13 AM)RexImperator Wrote:
It's possible the populations in the Western Hemisphere have less immunity compared to Africa, where it is endemic.
True.
However, my current understanding is that the Zika virus travelled East of Africa along the topics. And the first new problems similar to wha we see now, arose in French Polynesia - and then jumped (presumably through human hosts, but perhaps mosquitos on planes, or ships with suitable larval breeding waters), to South America.
Whenever a new infectious disease leaves its mark, epidemiologists learn quite a bit by unraveling makers of its course - that it, understanding when, where, and through who or what, its genetic characteristics changed.
Of course, soundly defining its current threatening manifestations is the first priority in order to soundly define risks (and avoidance strategies). The second and related one is understanding the interplay of genes, hosts, and environments that gives rise to this challenge today.
You have raised the perplexity - how did an endemic but largely uncomplicated and unthreatening virus in Africa linger for decades and suddenly present us with some dire life and death new risks?
No doubt an important backstory is yet to be told.
“There is no global anthem, no global currency, no certificate of global citizenship. We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag!” -DJT