Big Zika Virus Outbreak Unlikely In The U.S., Officials Say - NPR

The outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil and other countries has raised concern that the pathogen could start spreading widely in the United States, as well. But federal health officials and other infectious disease specialists say so far that seems unlikely.

"Based on what we know right now, we don't think that widespread transmission in the United States is likely," says Dr. Beth Bell, director of National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are several reasons for Bell's cautious optimism that isolated cases that show up in the U.S. could be contained. The first is that the two species of mosquitoes that could be capable of transmitting the virus, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, live mostly in the southern, more tropical parts of the U.S. That makes it likely that transmission would be limited primarily to these areas. And for various reasons, the chain of events and conditions the virus needs in order to spread is more easily disrupted in the U.S. than elsewhere.

For example, many people in the U.S. have air conditioning in the summer, so aren't as likely to leave windows open at the times of day when mosquitoes are especially active. The open windows of most homes also have screens. And many counties and other municipalities spray to kill mosquitoes, and are vigilant in trying to eliminate pools of standing water where the insects can breed.

"These are all conditions that make it less likely for ongoing, large-scale spread to occur," Bell says.

Still, travelers who have gotten infected with the Zika virus in other countries have already arrived in the U.S. and more are expected, raising the possibility that the virus could spread a bit beyond those cases, Bell says.

"There certainly is the possibility for transmission," Bell says. And since the virus is new to the U.S., most people have no immunity to it.

But even if that occurs, Bell and the CDC predict that any outbreaks would likely be very small. That's been the case so far with two similar viruses that have spread rapidly throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in recentyears: dengue andchikungunya. - Read More at the Zika Virus

Big Zika Virus Outbreak Unlikely In The U.S., Officials Say

Nations Across Latin America Grapple With Rapid Spread Of Zika Virus