Zika (20 page)

63
I wrote a brief
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika Virus, a Mosquito-Borne Infection, May Threaten Brazil's Newborns,”
New York Times
, Dec. 28, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/health/zika-virus-brazil-mosquito-brain-damage.html.

66
Simon's story arrived
: Simon Romero, “Alarm Spreads in Brazil over a Virus and a Surge in Malformed Infants,”
New York Times
, Dec. 30, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/world/americas/alarm-spreads-in-brazil-over-a-virus-and-a-surge-in-malformed-infants.html.

67
On January 4, 2016
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “U.S. Becomes More Vulnerable to Tropical Diseases Like Zika,”
New York Times
, Jan. 4, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/health/us-becomes-more-vulnerable-to-tropical-diseases-like-zika.html.

67
Then, on January 4, Puerto Rico
: Lisa Schnirring, “Puerto Rico Reports First Locally Acquired Zika Virus Case,”
CIDRAP News
, Jan. 4, 2016, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/01/puerto-rico-reports-first-locally-acquired-zika-virus-case.

68
Actually, I learned
: “First Case of Zika Virus Reported in Puerto Rico,”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
, Dec. 31, 2015, http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/s1231-zika.html.

68
until an Associated Press
: “Puerto Rico Reports Its First Mosquito-Borne Zika Case,” Associated Press, Jan. 4, 2016, http://wgntv.com/2016/01/04/puerto-rico-reports-its-first-mosquito-borne-zika-case/.

72
On January 13, I got
: Lavinia Schuler-Faccini et al., “Possible Association between Zika Virus Infection and Microcephaly—Brazil, 2015,”
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
, Jan. 22, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6503e2.

72
This was a
second
: “Zika Virus Epidemic in the Americas: Potential Association with Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré Syndrome,”
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
, Dec. 10, 2015, p. 7, http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/zika-virus-americas-association-with-microcephaly-rapid-risk-assessment.pdf.

75
The agency issued
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “To Protect against Zika Virus, Pregnant Women Are Warned about Latin American Trips,”
New York Times
, Jan. 15, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/health/zika-virus-cdc-pregnant-women-travel-warning.html.

76
That must really have upset
: Simon Romero, “Zika Warning Spotlights Latin America's Fight against Mosquito-Borne Diseases,”
New York Times
, Jan. 17, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/18/world/americas/brazil-zika-warning-rio-games.html.

76
The first American baby
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Hawaii Baby with Brain Damage Is First U.S. Case Tied to Zika Virus,”
New York Times
, Jan. 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/health/hawaii-reports-baby-born-with-brain-damage-linked-to-zika-virus.html.

CHAPTER 6

77
People all over
: Andrew Jacobs, “Brazilians Shrug Off Zika Fears to Revel in Carnival Fun,”
New York Times
, Feb. 10, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/world/americas/brazil-zika-virus-carnival.html.

77
Up to then, the WHO
: Editorial, “Zika Virus Requires an Urgent Response,”
New York Times
, Jan. 28, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/opinion/zika-virus-requires-an-urgent-response.html.

78
two weeks later
: Sabrina Tavernise and Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika Virus a Global Health Emergency, W.H.O. Says,”
New York Times
, Feb. 1, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/health/zika-virus-world-health-organization.html.

81
In fact, within a week
: “Statement on Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies,”
PLOS in the News
, Feb. 10, 2016, http://blogs.plos.org/plos/2016/02/statement-on-data-sharing-in-public-health-emergencies/.

83
My colleague Catherine
: Catherine Saint Louis, “Microcephaly, Spotlighted by Zika Virus, Has Long Afflicted and Mystified,”
New York Times
, Jan. 31, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/health/microcephaly-spotlighted-by-zika-virus-has-long-afflicted-and-mystified.html.

83
The BBC did
: Graham Satchell, “‘He Is Enjoying Life': Living with Microcephaly in the UK,” BBC News, Feb. 5, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35500306.

83
French Polynesian scientists
: Dr. Simon Cauchemez et al., “Association between Zika Virus and Microcephaly in French Polynesia, 2013–15: A Retrospective Study,”
Lancet
, March 15, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00651-6.

84
Sabrina Tavernise interviewed
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., Simon Romero, and Sabrina Tavernise, “How a Medical Mystery in Brazil Led Doctors to Zika,”
New York Times
, Feb. 6, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/health/zika-virus-brazil-how-it-spread-explained.html.

84
a story about mosquito control
: Sabrina Tavernise, “Prepare for Guerrilla Warfare with Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes, Experts Warn,”
New York Times
, Feb. 12, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/13/health/prepare-for-guerrilla-warfare-with-zika-carrying-mosquitoes-experts-warn.html.

84
Simon did one
: Simon Romero and Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika Virus May Be Linked to Surge in Rare Syndrome in Brazil,”
New York Times
, Jan. 22, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/world/americas/zika-virus-may-be-linked-to-surge-in-rare-syndrome-in-brazil.html.

84
The first American to die
: Donald G. McNeil Jr. and Daniel Victor, “First U.S. Death Tied to Zika Is Reported in Puerto Rico,”
New York Times
, April 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/health/zika-virus-first-death-in-us-puerto-rico.html.

86
And there was no way
: Joari De Miranda et al., “Induction of Toll-Like Receptor 3-Mediated Immunity during Gestation Inhibits Cortical Neurogenesis and Causes Behavioral Disturbances,”
mBio
, Oct. 5, 2010, doi:10.1128/mBio.00176-10.

87
In 1988, Finnish
: Sarnoff A. Mednick et al., “Adult Schizophrenia Following Prenatal Exposure to an Influenza Epidemic,”
Archives of General Psychiatry
45, no. 2 (1988): 189, doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800260109013.

87
And a pioneer
: E. Fuller Torrey, interview with the author, Feb. 2016.

88
Whether psychiatric problems
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika May Increase Risk of Mental Illness, Researchers Say,”
New York Times
, Feb. 18, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/health/zika-may-increase-risk-of-mental-illness-researchers-say.html.

88
Eventually, scientists from
: Cauchemez et al., “Association.”

CHAPTER 7

94
The only obvious
: Brian D. Foy et al., “Probable Non-Vector-Borne Transmission of Zika Virus, Colorado, USA,”
Emerging Infectious Diseases
, May 17, 2011, p. 880, doi:10.3201/eid1705.101939.

94
The paper described
: Martin Enserink, “Sex after a Field Trip Yields Scientific First,”
Science
, April 6, 2011, http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/04/sex-after-field-trip-yields-scientific-first.

95
It was in a relatively minor
: Didier Musso et al., “Potential Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus,”
Emerging Infectious Diseases
, Feb. 2015, p. 359, doi:10.3201/eid2102.141363.

95
On January 25, 2016
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika Virus: Two Cases Suggest It Could Be Spread through Sex,”
New York Times
, Jan. 25, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/health/two-cases-suggest-zika-virus-could-be-spread-through-sex.html.

98
In retrospect, part of
: D. Trew Deckard et al., “Male-to-Male Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus—Texas, January 2016,”
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
, April 15, 2016, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6514a3.htm.

100
The eyes are privileged
: Denise Grady, “After Nearly Claiming His Life, Ebola Lurked in a Doctor's Eye,”
New York Times
, May 7, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/health/weeks-after-his-recovery-ebola-lurked-in-a-doctors-eye.html.

CHAPTER 8

102
a nurse-practitioner
: Dyan J. Summers et al., “Zika Virus in an American Recreational Traveler,”
Journal of Travel Medicine
, May 21, 2015, doi:10.1111/jtm.12208.

106
It was a good call
: Henri-Pierre Mallet, “Emergence du virus Zika en Polynésie française” (PowerPoint presentation at national infectious disease conference, Bordeaux, France, June 11–13, 2014).

CHAPTER 9

112
A 2008 study
: Celia W. Dugger, “Study Cites Toll of AIDS Policy in South Africa,”
New York Times
, Nov. 25, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/world/africa/26aids.html.

115
The rumor about a larvicide
: Production Team REDUAS, “Report from Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns regarding Dengue-Zika, Microcephaly, and Massive Spraying with Chemical Poisons,”
Red Universitaria de Ambiente y Salud
, Feb. 9, 2016, http://www.reduas.com.ar/informe-de-medicos-de-pueblos-fumigados-sobre-dengue-zika-y-fumigaciones-con-venenos-quimicos/.

119
I dug through
: “Microcephaly—Brazil,”
WHO Disease Outbreak News
, Dec. 15, 2015. http://www.who.int/csr/don/15-december-2015-microcephaly-brazil/en/.

120
Then, on February 3
: Vinod Sreeharsha, “Birth Defects in Brazil May Be Overreported amid Zika Fears,”
New York Times
, Feb. 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/world/americas/birth-defects-in-brazil-may-be-over-reported-amid-zika-fears.html.

CHAPTER 10

125
Scientists in Latin America
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Proof of Zika's Role in Birth Defects Still Months Away, W.H.O. Says,”
New York Times
, Feb. 19, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/health/zika-virus-microcephaly-birth-defects-proof-who.html.

126
“Based on observational”
: “Zika Situation Report,”
WHO Emergencies
, March 31, 2016, http://www.who.int/emergencies/zika-virus/situation-report/31-march-2016/en/.

126
Then on April 13
: Pam Belluck and Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Zika Virus Causes Birth Defects, Health Officials Confirm,”
New York Times
, April 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/health/zika-virus-causes-birth-defects-cdc.html.

127
A series of small studies
: Donald G. McNeil Jr., “6 Reasons to Think the Zika Virus Causes Microcephaly,”
New York Times
, updated May 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/01/health/02zika-microcephaly.html.

127
Separate teams of doctors
: Jernej Mlakar, MD, et al., “Brief Report: Zika Virus Associated with Microcephaly,”
New England Journal of Medicine
, Feb. 10, 2016, doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1600651.

127
One particularly grim
: Rita W. Driggers et al., “Zika Virus Infection with Prolonged Maternal Viremia and Fetal Brain Abnormalities,”
New England Journal of Medicine
, March 30, 2016, doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1601824.

128
There was also “biological”
: Hengli Tang et al., “Zika Virus Infects Human Cortical Neural Progenitors and Attenuates Their Growth,”
Cell Stem Cell
, March 4, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2016.02.016.

128
But the most convincing
: Patrícia Brasil et al., “Zika Virus Infection in Pregnant Women in Rio de Janeiro—Preliminary Report,”
New England Journal of Medicine
, March 4, 2016, doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1602412.

130
A study done by the CDC
: Michael A. Johansson et al. “Zika and the Risk of Microcephaly,”
New England Journal of Medicine
, online, May 25, 2016, doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1605367.

130
The stack of evidence
: Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD, et al., “Special Report: Zika Virus and Birth Defects—Reviewing the Evidence for Causality,”
New England Journal of Medicine
, April 13, 2016, doi:10.1056/NEJMsr1604338.

CHAPTER 11

136
Then El Salvador proposed
: Azam Ahmed, “El Salvador's Advice on Zika Virus: Don't Have Babies,”
New York Times
, Jan. 25, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/world/americas/el-salvadors-advice-on-zika-dont-have-babies.html.

136
They began with
: Anastasia Moloney, “Advice to Delay Pregnancy Due to Zika Virus Is Naïve, Activists Say,” Reuters, Jan. 22, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-americas-health-zika-idUSKCN0V100H.

137
Sara Garcia
: Moloney, “Advice.”

137
American activists
: Moloney, “Advice.”

138
NPR's
Morning Edition
: Renee Montagne, “Is It Realistic to Recommend Delaying Pregnancy during Zika Outbreak?,” NPR's
Morning Edition
, aired Jan. 27, 2016, http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/01/27/464533090/is-it-realistic-to-recommend-delaying-pregnancy-during-zika-outbreak.