While Africa is still battling the Lassa virus, which is definitely not good news for all Nigerian students with respect to garri aka cassava flakes, we hear that a new one is out there called Zika.
Zika is supposed to have originated from one forest like that in Uganda; at least that is what the news agencies say. I kon dey wonder why almost every disease is claimed to originate from somewhere in Africa but that is neither here nor there.
It has now being confirmed that the Zika virus can be transmitted through sexual intercourse with infected persons. The primary method of transmission however remains through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Common symptoms include a mild fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. Zika virus typically causes a mild infection therefore infected people sometimes don’t even know that they carry the virus.
Zika virus has been reported to cause microcephaly and other poor pregnancy outcomes in babies infected in utero therefore it is advised that pregnant women do not travel to warm areas where the likelihood of being bitten by Aedes mosquitoes is high. Cases of pregnant women infected with the virus have being reported in Spain, Washington D.C (USA) and Brazil. As of yet, scientists cannot exactly pinpoint how this mode of infection occurs but, all precautions must be taken especially by pregnant women to avoid stories that touch.
For us living in the equator, this means we should not welcome this new addition to the larger disease family that plagues us; malaria, lassa fever, dengue fever, cholera, typhoid fever and all other fevers. Use treated mosquito nets and do not self-medicate.
One thing is certain; when I see Noah in Heaven, I will ask him why he had to save the female mosquitoes because na dem dey bite bite people up and down. Till then, #InsectidesGotMe
@NiranNoni
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