Detecting the second mosquito carrying Zika virus

The emergence of new mosquitoes makes the situation difficult to control.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an RNA (arbovirus) virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae, which is transmitted mainly through the bite of infected Aedes mosquito. The name of the virus takes the name of the Zika forest, near Lake Victoria in Uganda, where the mosquito was first found in 1947.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released evidence that there is a link between Zika virus and two neurological disorders. That is causing brain atrophy and syndrome of numbness in adults (often called Guillain-Barré Autoimmune Syndrome).

Scientists predict that this summer, the Zika epidemic will flood even large US cities like Miami and Houston.

The map predicts the area of ​​Zika virus impacts worldwide this summer.(Photo source: University of Texas, USA).

Sahotra Sarkar, a lecturer at the Department of Infectious Biology and colleagues at the University of Texas (USA), has made clear predictions about Zika's ability to spread to more than 100 major cities around the world. Two key factors behind Zika's over-spread are air travel and the proliferation of two common mosquitoes that can carry disease.

Although today, scientists have only proven that there is only one mosquito capable of carrying Zika virus, but researchers have now found very clear signs that a second mosquito exists. Also capable of carrying disease . If this is true, Zika will likely spread to the United States as well as most of Europe and Asia.

Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies say that there is too little information about the number of mosquitoes that are capable of carrying the disease in practice. This has made forecasting work underestimated the real danger of Zika. In the computer simulation model, only the Aedes aegypti mosquito is capable of spreading the disease, in the United States, only Florida, Texas and Louisiana can appear sick.

Among the densely populated urban areas in the United States, Miami and Houston are the two most at risk.

In the second scenario, if another mosquito, Aedes albopictus , is also proven to be capable of carrying the disease, countries like Canada, Chile and many other countries in Europe and Asia will also be infected. Zika is in great scope.

Scientists are working closely with public health management officials in countries in the danger zone to devise an appropriate coping plan.

They also warned that big cities like Miami, Orlando, Houston, Tampa and New Orleans need to increase their efforts to get samples and monitor local populations of mosquitoes. At the same time, aggressive mosquito control measures should be used if any abnormalities occur.

In addition, the occasion of the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will make it a big risk to become a giant Zika outbreak.