A Zika Primer For Californians
Although there are isolated pockets in the state of the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, California is at little risk of an outbreak, public officials say.
KQED:
What Californians Need to Know About Zika Virus
You’ve seen a burst of headlines in Bay Area news since January about Zika virus in California. This year, state health officials have confirmed 11 cases, three of them recently in the Bay Area. The good news is, all of those people contracted the bug while traveling abroad. The question now is whether that could change. (McClurg, 3/21)
In other Zika developments —
The New York Times:
Puerto Rico Braces For Its Own Zika Epidemic
On an inexorable march across the hemisphere, the Zika virus has begun spreading through Puerto Rico, now the United States’ front line in a looming epidemic. The outbreak is expected to be worse here than anywhere else in the country. The island, a warm, wet paradise veined with gritty poverty, is the ideal environment for the mosquitoes carrying the virus. The landscape is littered with abandoned houses and discarded tires that are perfect breeding grounds for the insects. Some homes and schools lack window screens and air-conditioning, exposing residents to almost constant bites. (McNeil, Jr., 3/20)
Politico:
America's Summer Threat: Zika Virus
If brokered conventions and third-party insurgencies aren’t enough, consider the chaos that Zika could bring to the United States this summer. If the mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects hits big — and that’s a big if — it could stir a panic like Ebola, set off an epidemic of finger-pointing and create new fear and acrimony over reproductive rights, global warming and immigration, all at the height of a presidential campaign. (Allen, 3/19)