Ben Althouse
London E1W 1YW, UK
Portland, ME 04101
2nd floor
11th floor
Boston, MA 02115
2nd floor
London E1W 1LP, UK
Talk recording
The arrival of Zika Virus (ZIKV) to the Americas was swift and unprecedented in scope. As it made its way across South America, into Mexico, and the United States, two surprising aspects of ZIKV infection became clear: ZIKV infection leads to devastating birth defects and it is readily transmitted sexually. The first, discovery of the teratogenic effects of ZIKV infection, was surprising because other flaviviruses such as Dengue virus and Yellow fever virus, which are spread by the same vectors and have otherwise similar symptomatology, do not seem to affect the developing fetus. The second observation of sexual transmission was surprising for similar reasons, but it also forced mathematical epidemiologists to adapt their ample toolbox for ZIKV. While the importance of these sexual transmissions is undeniable considering the birth defects associated with the virus, their statistical importance are much harder to estimate given that we have to parse out sexual transmissions from vectored transmissions in routinely collected incidence data. Here we demonstrate the consequences of sexual transmission of Zika and give some policy recommendations on screening and surveillance.
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