I'm Stephen Morse, a Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University's
Mailman School of Public Health. I work to understand the factors
leading to emerging infectious diseases like Zika, and can answer your
questions on the current outbreak. AMA!
Abstract
From 2009-2014, I was co-director of PREDICT, the part of the USAID
Emerging Pandemic Threats Program for identifying potential emerging
infections and their sources. I’m the founding chair of ProMED—the
nonprofit international Program to Monitor Emerging Diseases. In 1994, a
few colleagues and I created ProMED-mail, an international network for
outbreak reporting and disease monitoring using the Internet, a free
service available to anyone interested. A bit about the Zika virus: Zika
virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common
symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and
conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms
lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring
hospitalization is uncommon. In May 2015, the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika
virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of
Guillain-Barré syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with
birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes. The World Health Organization
is meeting today discuss emergency response to the spread of the
disease. I will be answering questions starting at 11am ET (8am PT). Ask
Me Anything! EDIT: Hi everyone, I’m going to start answering questions
now. EDIT: Thanks everyone for the terrific questions! I’m signing off
now. Good health!