Fighting Zika and Future Epidemics

"I think the US has to do a lot of thinking about what type of assets it's willing to put forward not on an ad hoc basis but something that the entire global community can rely upon on a continuous basis in terms of disease response." (Rebecca Katz, Associate Professor in International Health, Georgetown University).

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 4,000 cases of Zika reported in the continental US and almost 30,000 in US territories.

For most people Zika is a fairly harmless mosquito borne virus, it causes minor discomfort in some people and is usually over in a week.  But for pregnant women, Zika can lead to major birth defects.  An estimated 64 million pregnancies are at risk globally. Experts fear  limited testing capacity combined with symptoms that can sometimes take a year to manifest in infants, could be causing a hidden epidemic.

This hour of America Abroad explores the response to Zika and America’s role in the global effort to fight infectious diseases. Also we compare Singapore to India in their efforts to eradicate mosquito borne viruses.  Finally we discuss what individuals can do to protect themselves against Zika.

Guests Include: 
Thomas Bollyky: Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development, Council on Foreign Relations
Dr. Michael Callahan: CEO and Co-Founder, Zika Foundation
Dr. Tom Frieden: Director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Laurie Garrett: Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations
Rebecca Katz: Associate Professor in International Health, Georgetown University
Dr. Julius Lutwama: Lead Virologist, The Uganda Virus Research Institute
Sammy Mack: Health Reporter, WLRN in Miami
J. Stephen Morrison: Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Dr. Stephen Morse: Professor of Epidemiology, Columbia University School of Public Health
Dr. Stephen Redd: Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention