Higher temperatures make Zika more likely to spread
The mosquito behind the Zika virus seems to operate like a heat-driven missile of disease.
As the temperature rises, nearly everything about the biology of the Aedes aegypti mosquito - the one that carries Zika , dengue fever and other diseases - speeds up when it comes to spreading disease, said entomologist Bill Reisen of the University of California Davis.
Experts say as temperatures in the U.S. warm in the spring and summer, we can expect to see Zika spread to the states , especially areas in the South where the Aedes mosquito is present.
Zika was just declared a global public health emergency after being linked to brain deformities in babies in South America.
As the temperature rises, nearly everything about the biology of the Aedes aegypti mosquito - the one that carries Zika , dengue fever and other diseases - speeds up when it comes to spreading disease, said entomologist Bill Reisen of the University of California Davis.
Experts say as temperatures in the U.S. warm in the spring and summer, we can expect to see Zika spread to the states , especially areas in the South where the Aedes mosquito is present.
Zika was just declared a global public health emergency after being linked to brain deformities in babies in South America.