El Nino fuelled Zika outbreak, new study suggests
https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2016/12/19/el-nino-fuelled-zika-outbreak/[font face=Serif]Published: December 19, 2016
[font size=5]El Niño fuelled Zika outbreak, new study suggests[/font]
[font size=3]Scientists at the University of Liverpool have shown that a change in weather patterns, brought on by the Godzilla El Niño of 2015, fuelled the Zika outbreak in South America.
The findings were revealed using a new epidemiological model that looked at how climate affects the spread of Zika virus by both of its major vectors, the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus).
The model used the worldwide distribution of both vectors as well as temperature-dependent factors, such as mosquito biting rates, mortality rates and viral development rates within mosquitoes, to predict the effect of climate on virus transmission. It found that in 2015, when the Zika outbreak occurred, the risk of transmission was greatest in South America.
The researchers believe that this was likely due to a combination of El Niño a naturally occurring phenomenon that sees above-normal temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and causes extreme weather around the world and climate change, creating conducive conditions for the mosquito vectors.
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