Reported by: Casey Matto
For the past few months the concern over the Zika virus has been steadily growing. The Zika virus as of now is found mostly south of the United States in Central America and the northern part of South America, but is expected to spread northward as it gets warmer and warmer headed into summer. The full capacity of the disease is unknown, each week new symptoms and ways of transmission are talked about.
What we know is that the symptoms are relatively mild for adults but for pregnant women who catch the disease the fetus is susceptible to numerous brain complications upon birth.
The disease is spread mostly by mosquito but sexual transmission has also been know to happen for those carrying the disease. And there is currently no vaccine or cure for the virus.
As for the Oswego area the mosquitos that carry Zika are not expected to travel this far north this summer however for students living in Long Island, New York City, and southward be careful because it will be warm enough for mosquitos to travel up to those areas. A lot of bug spray, long pants, and long sleeve shirts this summer may be a good idea to decrease your chances of catching the virus.