568k 
233k 
41k 
Subscribe 
Still, researchers cautioned that it’s hard to predict how global warming will impact mosquito populations in any given area. But most experts agree that, as with most impacts of climate change, the poor are the most vulnerable.
Zika virus: 'I don't know when my daughter will walk or speak' – one mother's story – video https://t.co/ovrlmz4QWe pic.twitter.com/zij6W5AZId
— The Guardian (@guardian) January 30, 2016
The disease’s rapid spread has caused alarm among the general public. To learn more about the virus, Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson spoke with Scott Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Here are 10 facts about Zika virus from Weaver:
1. The Zika virus was discovered in Uganda, Africa in 1947, but it is believed that the virus existed much earlier than that.
2. It was discovered when looking for yellow fever in monkeys and was found in mosquitoes in 1948.
3. Mosquitoes become infected by feeding on animals infected with the virus.
4. After mosquitoes contract the virus, there is an incubation period in which the virus spreads through the mosquito, into salivary glands.
5. It is unsure as of yet if the Zika virus can be spread from a mosquito to its progeny.
6. Between the discovery and 2007, only 14 human infections of Zika virus were documented.
7. Studies conducted on populations in Africa and Asia found high levels of immunity towards the Zika virus, suggesting previous undocumented transmission.
8. It’s expected to take a few years to develop a vaccine or therapeutics for Zika.
9. The current strategy to manage Zika is to reduce the mosquito population, including clearing stagnant water where the mosquitoes breed.
10. The mosquito that carries Zika virus, aedes aegypti, prefers to be indoors and bite humans throughout the day.
Listen to Scott Weaver speak to Jeremy Hobson on NPR’s Here & Now:
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Zika Virus ‘Spreading Explosively’ in Americas
Michael Moore: 10 Things They Won’t Tell You About the Flint Water Tragedy, But I Will
Erin Brockovich to Stephen Colbert: ‘Flint, Michigan Is the Tip of the Iceberg’