Military Times: Meet the U.S. military super scientists fighting to destroy the Zika virus

While the U.S. Navy is better known for its role in protecting Americans from enemies abroad, its scientists also work in labs throughout the world, combatting an unseen enemy: infectious disease.

And now, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 6, based in Lima, Peru, has set its sights on the Zika virus — declared by the World Health Organization to be a public health emergency.

Zika, which is spread by mosquitos, was once thought to be a minor health threat because its symptoms were typically mild and lasted about a week. However, scientists increasingly believe there is a link between Zika infections in pregnant women and microcephaly in newborns, where the child’s head is unusually small due to abnormal brain development.

Zika, a virus transmitted through mosquito bites, is affecting multiple countries in Latin America, and is expected to spread to the U.S.

The Lima-based unit, known in Navy lingo as NAMRU-6, was officially established in 2011, but has roots going back to 1978, when a Peruvian Navy official asked the United States to set up a lab to assist Peru in studying tropical medicine and diseases. By 1983, a research unit had been established to study diseases and search for cures, benefitting both countries. The unit also has labs in Puerto Maldonado and Iquitos, along the Amazon River.

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Reuters: Mosquitoes' rapid spread poses threat beyond Zika

As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity.

The battle against the insects on the streets of Brazil is the latest in an ancient war between humankind and the Culicidae, or mosquito, family which the pests frequently win.

Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to Strasbourg, challenging the notion that the diseases they carry will remain confined to the tropics, scientists documenting the cases told Reuters.

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Sexual transmission of Zika virus more common than previously thought: WHO

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says reports from several countries suggest that sexual transmission of the Zika virus is more common than previously thought.After a meeting of its emergency committee on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency also said there is increasing evidence that a spike in disturbing birth defects is caused by Zika, which is mostly spread by mosquito bites.Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said “reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed.”The agency last month said the outbreak in the Americas constitutes a global emergency.

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The Verge: Zika virus can cause severe neurological disorder, scientists say

Scientists say they’ve confirmed that the Zika virus can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare but severe neurological disorder that kills 5 percent of people who develop it. Authorities in countries with a Zika outbreak should make sure they have enough intensive care beds to deal with an increase of patients with Guillain-Barré.
In a 2013 outbreak, 32,000 people were assessed for a suspected Zika infection in

French Polynesia. That’s where today’s study subjects came from. Almost all 42 patients with Guillain-Barré had signs of a recent Zika infection in their blood. In addition, 37 of those patients said that they had symptoms of Zika six days before they experienced symptoms of Guillain-Barré. The results suggest that Zika should be added to the list of infectious pathogens that can cause Guillain-Barré, the researchers write in The Lancet.

"Until now, everything was anecdotal," says Lee Norman, an intelligence officer in disaster medicine planning in the United States Army National Guard, who didn’t work on the study. This is "the first time that I've had confidence that there’s a definitive link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome."

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