Mapping Zika’s Family Tree With Genome Sequencing Shows The Origins Of An Epidemic
Using the technique could help researchers predict how the next pandemic will move across the globe.
Los Angeles Times:
What The DNA Of The Zika Virus Tells Scientists About Its Rapid Spread
A family tree can reveal a lot, especially if it belongs to a microscopic troublemaker with a knack for genetic shape-shifting. DNA sleuthing can outline the route an emerging pathogen might take once it makes landfall in the Americas and encounters a wholly unprotected population. It’s a modern take on old-fashioned public health surveillance strategies that focused on the exhaustive collection and analysis of samples from the field. Now they’ve been bolstered by rapid genome sequencing — and the result can be a picture of an epidemic rendered in exquisite detail, and in near-real time. (Healy, 5/25)
In other news on Zika —
The Wall Street Journal:
New York City Issues Zika Travel Warning
In advance of the summer travel season, New York City health officials on Thursday stepped up warnings to would-be parents about the threat of contracting Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to serious birth defects in babies and, in some cases, in utero deaths. (West, 5/25)
The New York Times:
A Quarter Of U.S. Babies With Zika-Related Birth Defects Were Born In New York
A quarter of all infants in the United States born with defects related to the Zika virus were born to women in New York City, city health officials announced on Thursday, a stark reminder of the dangers posed by the virus. Looking ahead to summer and the threat of the resurgent virus spreading through the Caribbean, the New York City Department of Health said that 402 pregnant women had been infected with the virus and that 32 infants had been infected with the virus and 16 of them had Zika-related birth defects since last spring. (Santora, 5/25)
