Read or watch the news today, and you’ll hear a lot about what makes a nation strong. There is one way to strengthen our nation now, and it’s universally agreed upon: Mount a full-scale prevention and response effort against Zika. We’re talking about Zika prevention and management.
The longer we wait to mount a full-scale defense against Zika, the worse the consequences will be. Our slow response will hurt our nation’s businesses while causing incalculable pain to women, their partners and families—and most of all, the babies who will suffer the irreversible, tragic effects of the virus.
The situation at hand
Zika-infected mosquitos have already begun spreading the virus in a Miami neighborhood. The growing number of cases has prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to warn pregnant women away from the area, and for pregnant women who live or have traveled there to get tested for the Zika virus. So far, the virus has been found only in Florida, but the type of mosquito that can transmit it, Aedes aegypti, thrives in 30 states.
If the spread of Zika is not controlled, the human cost will be devastating. According to recent studies by U.S., English and Swedish researchers, if the disease continues to spread unchecked, 1.6 million women will be at risk, with tens of thousands of babies potentially born with microcephaly and other birth defects.
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