nating blood to be absolutely certain they are not carriers. There have been no reports of Zika being found in the blood supply to date, but the FDA is taking no chances. The four-week waiting period is considered more than sufficient to ensure the virus is no longer present in a person’s body after returning from an area of concern.
Due to the severe effects of the neuro-developmental disorder microcephaly that are passed from expecting mothers infected with the Zika virus to their unborn babies, public health officials in several countries are encouraging the use of family planning practices to completely avoid pregnancy until the Zika pandemic ends.
In El Salvador, for example, public health officials are strongly encouraging postponing having children until 2018 at the earliest. This public health policy is being echoed in Colombia and Jamaica.
Avoiding Travel to Areas of Concern
One way to stop the spread of Zika to other countries is to either encourage or prevent citizens from traveling to countries where the virus is currently active. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believes future outbreaks in the country will be from citizens traveling to countries where the virus is present and then bringing it home with them. Although the United States is not currently preventing anyone from traveling to countries with active Zika outbreaks, the CDC is strongly encouraging pregnant women and women of childbearing age to avoid traveling to these countries until the pandemic ends.
The Zika virus has become such a pervasive problem that some are calling for “Hail Mary” proposals to stop the spread of the virus. One such proposal involves releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild that have been designed to sterilize and perhaps even eliminate the entire mosquito population. Another proposal is to bring back DDT, a powerful insecticide, to wipe out as much of the mosquito population as possible. These proposals are controversial, of course, and are not without their critics. Completely eliminating the mosquito population, for example, could prove detrimental to some species of freshwater fish that feed off of mosquito larvae. And DDT has been blamed for both threatening and potentially eradicating bird populations.
Although several companies are currently working on Zika vaccines, large-scale trials are at least 18 months away. In the interim, combating the spread of the deadly virus hinges primarily on mass public education efforts. Just as Brazil has already proven, it will literally take an army to get the word out about how the virus is spread and steps individuals and communities can take to decrease the mosquito population and protect themselves until a working vaccine is finally ready.
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|Schools with Online MPH Programs|
|A.T. Still University Online MPH|
|Benedictine University Online MPH|
|Concordia University of Nebraska Online MPH|
|Creighton University Online MPH|
|Des Moines University Online MPH|
|East Tennessee State University Online MPH|
|Emory University Online MPH|
|Florida A&M University Online MPH|
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|Idaho State University Online MPH|
|Johns Hopkins University Online MPH|
|Liberty University Online MPH|
|Loma Linda University Online MPH|
|Loyola University Online MPH|
|Medical College of Wisconsin Online MPH|
|New Mexico State University Online MPH|
|New York Medical College Online MPH|
|Northern Illinois University Online MPH|
|Nova Southeastern University Online MPH|
|OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Online MPH|
|Rivier University Online MPH Programs|
|San Jose State University Online MPH|
|Simmons College Online MPH Program|
|Tulane University Online MPH|
|University at Albany-SUNY Online MPH|
|University of Alabama Online MPH|
|University of Alaska Online MPH|
|University of California Berkeley Online MPH|
|University of Florida Online MPH|
|University of Illinois Online MPH|
|University of Massachusetts-Amherst Online MPH|
|University of Minnesota Online M