What+You+Need+to+Know

Dolesh, Richard J. “//Zika and Parks: What You Need to Know”// //Parks & Recreation//, 1 May 2016. Web. 14 June 2016.

Early in 2015, the Zika virus began to spread immensely through Brazil first and later throughout the Americas. There are about 3,000 or more species of mosquitos existing across the planet, but only 173 mosquitos are living in the United States. Scientists have discovered that there are only two types of carriers of the Zika virus and they are the Aedes aegypti mosquito and the Aedes albopictus mosquito. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is typically referred to as the Yellow Fever mosquito or the “Urban mosquito”. The Aedes albopictus mosquito is also known as the Asian Tiger mosquito. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is deemed to be the primary carrier and cause of this outbreak due to its closer association with humans. The Aedes aegypti is suspected to be the cause for the Yellow Fever outbreak that occurred in Philadelphia in 1793. To this day, this species of mosquito inhabits Florida, parts of Southeast, and near the Gulf Coast region. The Zika virus will most likely be transmitted through the saliva of a female mosquito. The reason behind this is because a female mosquito will have to re-bite the human in order to obtain blood containing proteins needed to form eggs. The Zika virus was also shown to increase the risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the myelin lining of nerve cells, causing weakness and paralysis amongst individuals.

Kristen Gilbert