WEBVTT - Ep 24 Zika: Rumors and Rumours 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.800 The real and terrible consequence could be seen on CT scans, 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:11.799 MRIs and ultrasounds. Those tiny heads contain shrunken brains. Sometimes 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.240 just the funnel lobes, the seat of decision making, of speech, 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:20.680 of intelligence, of humor were atrophied, showing abnormally large dark ventricles, 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.960 the hollow internal spaces that are supposed to appear smaller 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.600 and smaller as the brain grows. Sometimes all that was 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.440 left was the bulb above the brain stem, where the 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:35.280 most basic functions like breathing and digestion reside. Around it 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:39.640 would be blank space filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Usually the 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.080 skull had not completely collapsed, but neither had it pushed 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.159 out to its full size by the growing brain, and 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.200 the brain would be smooth, looking more like a small liver, 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.280 with none of the deep folds and fissures that every 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.480 growing brain should develop as it folds in upon itself 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:59.400 to pack more thinking power into a small space. That 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.320 smooth brain baby might be more than comatose. Maybe it 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:07.679 could breathe, could blink, could digest, could live, But maybe 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.520 that baby could not chew food or see the spoon 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.839 or the breast coming toward its mouth, certainly it would 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.560 never walk, probably never crawl, or maybe would never do 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.360 more than roll from side to side, unable to control 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.160 its contorted arms and legs enough to even turn over. 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.240 Hospital hallways doctors remembered in Brazil were lined with mothers 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:33.559 who resembled ghosts. They were in shock, mute, expressionless, bleak. 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.760 Some were just teenagers. Some had ridden buses for hours 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.160 and were too poor to buy food. As the hours 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.240 waiting to be seen stretched on, and there were so 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:47.199 many of them, one mother looked up from her son's 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:50.840 face to ask doctor, his head is going to grow right? 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:34.120 Jeez. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:40.800 Yeah, it was really intense, but that's also the reality. Yeah, Itzica, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:43.840 it's dang. 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:49.160 Yeah, it's awful, It's really awful. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:51.480 Yeah. 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:57.680 So that firsthand, that really horrible, sad description is from 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.440 a book called Zeka by Donald Neil. 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:10.560 Okay, well, hi, hi, we always managed to start on 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.320 really great notes. 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.880 I mean, this podcast, what's this podcast about? 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:16.240 Oh? 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.640 Yes, yeah, I'm Aaron Welsh and I'm Erin Almond Updyke 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.880 and this is this podcast will kill You And today 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:29.200 we're talking about none other than zeca virus heavy. 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.639 Yeah, well they all kind of are. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.160 Really it's true. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.200 Okay, Well, so before we move on to hear more 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:42.400 about just how awful zekea is, let's arm ourselves with 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.720 a stiff drink. Let's do that or a placey berita. 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.520 So it's quarantining time. 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:53.119 I believe it is definitely quarantine time. So this week 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.800 we're drinking the Pink Eye of the Tiger. 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:57.800 And why is it called that? 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:03.160 Well, in part as we'll discuss in the biology because 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.760 zeka is transmitted by the tiger mosquito, and in part 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:14.040 because one of the symptoms is conjunctividis a haha, pany 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:18.800 as heck today erin just wonderful. So what is in 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:20.000 Pink Eye of the Tiger? 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:20.880 Okay? 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:26.320 So it is a little bit of raspberry sorbet, a 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:30.320 little bit of mango and passion fruit infused. 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.400 Vodka thanks to my brother Josh, who can't hear this, 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.599 but I'll thank him anyways for that. 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.040 Gift, and then you top it up with some champagne. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:42.920 Yum. 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.760 Yeah, it's actually quite delicious. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.640 And as always, we'll post the recipe for our quarantini 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.479 as well as the non alcoholic version our placey ba 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.200 Rita on all of our social media channels. So TPWKY 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.320 on Twitter and this podcast will kill You on Facebook 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:01.880 and Instagram as well as our website. 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:03.159 Cool. 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.719 I want to hear about Zica. I want to hear 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:12.479 about this is. This is a bizarre little virus. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.760 It's very bizarre, and it's new for many of us. 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.120 So let's get into it. I'm excited to tell you 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:19.280 about the biology. 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:44.760 So we've actually. 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:48.560 Gotten a fair number of requests for zica, which is exciting. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.600 And what I think is so interesting and I can't 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.760 wait aron to hear about the history of it, is 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.080 that if we had talked about I mean, if we 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.800 had started this podcast a few years ago, I don't 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:04.400 even think we would have proposed doing zeica virus because 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:06.360 I don't even know that I heard of it before, 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:07.680 like twenty fifteen. 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:09.880 No, yeah, definitely not. 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.839 It was not on almost anyone's radar. 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:14.880 Yeah. 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:19.080 So it's in that way, it's really exciting because so 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.680 much of zica is just brand spanking new. 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:22.279 Yeah. 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.080 I mean, it's still happening, right, But I don't want 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.039 to steal your thunder of oh the history though you 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.919 Let's just talk about the virus itself and how it 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.239 makes you sick. Okay, So Zeca virus is a virus 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:40.000 that very obvious it is. You know, we could go crazy, 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.440 you know, call something Zeka virus and have it be 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:47.760 a No, it's a virus. It's in the family Flavivii. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:52.200 Day and so perhaps some really deep listeners or recent 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.440 binge listeners might remember another disease we've covered that's in 0:06:56.520 --> 0:07:00.320 this same family. Aaron, do you remember this. 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.320 Is gonna be embarrassing? Is it yellow fever? 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:03.599 It's a yellow fever? 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:08.159 Okay, good, thank great, Yes, I was like, the amount 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.200 of stuff I can forget is impressive. 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.680 Oh, same, But you got it right. It's related to 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:18.640 yellow fever, also to Dangay, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, bunch 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.520 of other viruses. So it's an RNA virus, and like 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.960 all of those other viruses that I mentioned, it's transmitted 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:30.960 by mosquitoes. Zeka happens to be transmitted by the same 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:35.400 mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever and Dangay virus and chicken gunya. 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.600 But those are all different stories. And that's eighties a 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.480 jypdi and eighties albapictus, So that's the yellow fever mosquito 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:47.640 and the tiger mosquito, both of which if you live 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.360 in a place where they exist, then you've definitely noticed 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:55.200 them because they're gnarly bitters. They bite humans like prolifically. 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.160 They love humans and they bite hard and it hurts. 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.480 And they're big and black with white stripes on their legs. 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:04.360 Oh yeah, and they bite often. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.520 They bite often, and they also are like daytime biers, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.520 so they'll bite you all day long. They're not like 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.880 other mosquitoes that will only bite at like dawn or dusk. 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.480 Or crepuscular one of my favorite words. 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:22.320 It's a good word. And so diseases that are spread 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:26.280 by these mosquitoes, like yellow fever dangay zica, they're especially 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.480 difficult problems to deal with, in part because of how 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.600 well adapted these two species of mosquito are to the 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.800 urban and peri urban environment and how much they love 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.160 humans and the environments that we create for them. So 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.400 it's really fun when you combine that with climate change 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.920 and how they're expanding their range. It's these diseases aren't 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.520 going to stop being an issue anytime soon. 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:55.880 And urbanization and change and clear the things, all the things. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:56.640 It's just so fun. 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:01.400 Good news from our corner, everyone right, job security? 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:04.320 Okay. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.960 So one of the things though, although ZEKA is transmitted 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:13.040 primarily by mosquitoes, one of the things that we discovered 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.040 relatively early on during the most recent outbreak that's pretty 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.480 novel and very scary, is that it can also be 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:22.120 transmitted sexually. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.800 Oh yeah, so the. 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:30.000 Virus somehow seems to be able to live in especially 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.160 the male reproductive tract. I don't know exactly where. I 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.760 don't think we know as science exactly where in the 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.320 reproductive tract of humans it happens to live, but it 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.240 can live there and be transmitted weeks or even months 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.600 after a person was infected. And most of the cases 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.880 of sexual transmission have been from symptomatic people, and usually 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:58.400 it's transmitted via semen, But you can also transmit it 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.920 to your partner even if you've been asymptomatic, which is 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.320 really scary because it means that you could potentially be 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.720 a carrier, never know that you're infected, and then end 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.920 up transmitting it to a partner. Yeah, and this is Yeah, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:14.000 it's something that's pretty novel and quite frankly scary in 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.960 looking at something that's normally a vector born disease because 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.560 It really adds a whole nother layer of complexity to 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:25.480 control efforts, right, which are already really difficult when you're 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:26.960 dealing with vector born diseases. 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:32.200 Yeah, I can't believe how long it lives. 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:36.720 I've read something about someone who it was circulating. They 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.680 found traces of the virus in their semen sixty two 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.640 days after exposure or something like that, or after first 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:44.320 being positive. 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.080 And the thing is that since we don't know, like 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:48.960 there's so much that we don't know about this virus. 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.160 We don't know, like, is sixty two days the average 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.360 or is that the maximum? Right, we don't know, or 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:56.360 is that just like maybe on the low end, maybe 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.520 it could live for six months or a year, who knows. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.480 We don't know at this point. 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:02.280 Oh man. 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:05.240 And there's one other way that zica can be transmitted, 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:10.400 and that's vertically. So vertical transmission is from mother to baby, 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.120 and so in this case, Zica can actually cross the 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:18.160 placenta and be transmitted to the fetus during gestation. And 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.720 while this is not uncommon for viruses in general, there's 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.360 a number of infections, viral and bacterial that can cross 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:28.679 the placenta, it wasn't known at all that zica could 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:32.839 be transmitted this way until very recently, and as far 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:37.199 as I know, it's not that common for mosquito or 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.520 vector born diseases to be able to cross the placenta. 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:41.760 Yeah, I don't think so. 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.880 Yeah, but it's not it's not that out there. Just 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.640 in terms of a biology perspective, there's a number of 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.920 viruses and bacteria that can that can cross the placenta. 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.959 So those are all the ways that you can get 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:56.440 infected with ZICCA. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:58.000 Fantastic. 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.480 So the question is what happens once you get in affected? 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:01.559 Yeah? 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.400 Yeah, so okay, So the most common way that you 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.520 get infected, right is via mosquito. So if you get 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.920 bitten with an infected mosquito, the incubation period, which is 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.839 again the time from when the mosquito bites you and 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.720 dumps a bunch of virus into your bloodstream until the 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.960 time that you show symptoms. That time period is usually 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.720 between three and fourteen days. So usually within two weeks 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.960 you'll start to show symptoms. It's again a long span, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.800 it's a pretty long span. Yeah, but again that has 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.000 to do in part with just your immune system and 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.880 then in part with how many viruses was the mosquito 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:37.760 infected with. 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.160 And how much how long it was feeding on you? Yeah, 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:42.440 it's all this, all the things. 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:49.520 So the symptoms in this case are actually very mild fever, rash, 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.720 and the rash is one of the features that seems 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:58.720 pretty prominent in zecavirus compared to other flavaviruses, Like most 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.960 of the time, if you're going to have someymptoms with ZICA, 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.400 you'll probably have a rash. Also conjunctivitis, hence the. 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.520 Name of our quarantine pink guy. 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.920 Pink iy raise your head if you had pink eye 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.880 as a kid. Who didn't, Oh yeah, everyone did, right, 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.280 It wasn't We weren't just filthy. I don't know, let 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:20.920 us know people, Okay, So those are really common. Also, 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.360 muscle and joint pain and that's something that's really common 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:28.000 with a lot of flavaviruses, malaise, headache, These are all 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.640 things that are pretty typical if you get any kind 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.440 of viral infection, and they're also very nondescript, which you 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:39.520 can imagine makes it very difficult to diagnose yep, right, 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.959 sure does. And symptoms are pretty self limited. They usually 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.280 only last between two and seven days, so we're talking 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.199 like the flu length, but not even as severe as 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.440 the flu, probably, right. But what's really important is that 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.040 up to eighty percent of people who are infected with 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.239 zeca virus don't ever develop any symptoms. 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.360 That's yeah, I've read that. That's amazing. 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.520 Yeah, yeah, and it means that, I mean, it just 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.800 makes it so so difficult to try and get a 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.040 handle on how many people have been infected and everything, 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.240 because if you've got eighty percent of people never showing 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:22.600 symptoms ooof it makes it tough. And so in general, 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.440 this infection happens in a very similar way as any 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:31.800 other flava virus or really any other virus or mosquito 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:33.960 born virus, and that is, the virus gets into your 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.600 skin because the mosquito pokes a hole in it. It 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.800 goes into your lymph nodes and then into your bloodstream 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:45.720 and it replicates and it invades cells. So how exactly 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:52.560 zecavirus infects your specific cells and causes damage we don't 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.240 entirely know. So we don't know the exact path of 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.720 physiology of zica virus yet. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.040 That it makes it a little bit harder to target 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.400 and its acts differently or it's suspected to act differently 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.280 than other flavaviruses. 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:16.680 I don't know the answer to that question, okay, But 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:23.360 Zica virus particles can be found in almost every bodily 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:27.120 fluid that we have tested so far. So if you 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.680 test the blood of someone who's been infected with Zica, 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.400 you'll probably find Zeca virus. If you test their semen, 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:36.760 if you test vaginal secretions, if you test their eye fluid, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.480 if you test their saliva, if you test almost any 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:46.000 bodily fluid or almost any organ you'll probably find Zeca 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:47.240 virus particles. 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:53.040 I have a question about bodily fluids. Okay. Do boogers 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.880 and snot count totes? Yeah? Okay? 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:01.840 And so on top of this sort of general nondescript symptoms, 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.920 there are a number of different complications that can arise 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.000 as a result of Zica infection. So there's an increased 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:15.680 risk for future neurologic complications like gion beret syndrome, myelitis, 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:21.680 general nerve issues, and also things like meningitis are possible 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.080 as a result of Zeica virus infection. Right, But the 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.680 biggest complication that we mentioned in our first hand account 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:32.640 and that people has probably become. The most famous is 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:39.120 that five to fifteen percent of infants born to pregnant 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.720 women who are infected with ZICA during their pregnancy have 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:48.160 evidence of complications directly related to Zica virus infection. These 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:53.000 complications include intra uterine growth restriction, which means the baby's 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.000 not able to grow as big as it should, early 0:16:56.040 --> 0:17:02.040 pregnancy loss also known as spontaneous abortion, and microcephaly, which 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.120 is a small brain that's inadequately developed and in some 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:11.400 cases can be incompatible with life. So this is sort 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.440 of the most extreme complication and the most devastating complication 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:20.000 that has come from ZICA. The exact mechanism of how 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.680 this happens is not clear. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.600 Are their thoughts as to what it might be well. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:31.280 So shortly after the connections between zecavirus and microcephaly were 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.240 sort of brought to light, there was a lot of 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:38.119 pushback because it's only five to fifteen percent of cases, 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:42.560 and that seems pretty low, and in some areas the 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:47.000 baseline levels of microcephaly weren't necessarily known at the time, 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.399 But since then, multiple different animal models have shown that 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.480 ZEKA is capable of crossing the placenta and in mouse 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:58.960 models can cause fetal defects. I believe in monkey models 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.800 non human primate models as well. So at this point 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.320 the link is pretty clear, but we don't really know 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.760 exactly what is happening. Besides that Zica is able to 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.400 invade across the placenta and then infect the fetus. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:19.040 Okay, yeah, you might have said this, but I don't 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:24.840 remember any trimester. Is it any trimester for infection? That's dangerous, 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:26.840 great question. 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.560 So the number or the percentage of birth's effects is 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.119 highest in women infected during the first trimester, but it 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.199 is possible to end up having a baby born with 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.760 congenital malformation if you're infected at any point in the pregnancy. 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:43.480 Okay, but what I think is. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.239 Scary is that when you combine this complication with the 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.800 fact that Zica can be transmitted sexually, that's a pretty 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:59.440 sinister picture of a disease. Yet me, it's pretty depressing. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.320 That's all I've got. That's zeka virus. 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.480 It's a scary and really tragic one. 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.360 It really is. It really is. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:19.240 Yeah, So what the heck, Aaron, what's going on? How 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.040 do we get here? Where did this thing come from? 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.720 How did it just pop up in twenty sixteen, nonet 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.120 even heard of it? Is it brand new? 0:19:27.640 --> 0:20:02.919 Well? The Romans called it just kidding, Okay. I feel 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.879 like we all know the history of Zica, or at 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.800 least a big part of it. I mean, we've we've 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.000 lived it more or less like we've been there for it. 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:17.360 Maybe not in the epicenter, but we remember the headlines 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:22.920 at least. And I can remember the panic and headlines 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.399 of twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen, and I'm sure you 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.840 do too. I was living in Panama for much of 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.800 the peak of media hysteria, and I remember all sorts 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:36.720 of rumors, just among you know, in in Gamboa about 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.160 the danger of Zica and how pregnant female researchers weren't 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.240 going to be allowed to conduct research in Panama. And 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.679 I think that the week I was visiting sam Blos, 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:48.560 there was an outbreak of zica declared there like that 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.159 was oh Zeca and plam Blas, And I was like, oh, okay, 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:56.439 at least it's mild, you know, something like that stupid 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:57.399 that I was thinking. 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:59.080 Oh yeah, that's I was the same way. I was like, man, 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.359 maybe I should just try and get Zeka now. So 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:02.760 then then I've had it. 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.520 Yeah, I mean, I really wonder if we tested antibodies 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:09.000 whether we would have been show exposure. 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.240 Actually I was tested because if you give blood in 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.880 the US now, they test you for zica and they 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:17.199 call you if it's positive. And mine was negative. So 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:18.400 I didn't get zica. 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:19.600 Okay, so you never got zeka. 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:20.680 Yeah. 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:23.000 So for every disease or. 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.520 Topic that we cover, I try to ask myself the question, 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:30.160 what does this specific disease or outbreak teach us about 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:35.280 epidemic response or the nature of disease, or often humanity itself. 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:38.480 And I think in this way, Zeka is one of 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:42.439 the first epidemics to show us how fast information and 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:47.600 especially misinformation can spread. In many ways, though that just 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:52.080 kind of shows us how little things change, rumors and 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:56.720 conspiracies thrive during epidemics. Someone's always wanting to go against 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:02.480 quote conventional wisdom. Sometimes they're right, times they're not, and 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.280 it just moves at a faster pace and with a 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:09.600 higher turnover in this Internet. 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:12.000 Age, Yeah, thanks Twitter as. 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:15.520 Age of Twitter, and so does the virus itself thanks 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:16.520 to global travel. 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:17.920 Yeah. 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.240 Even though the first time that many of us heard 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.240 the word zica was probably in twenty fifteen in connection 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.440 with the words Microcephae and Brazil. 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:27.280 The Zeica virus had. 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:31.560 Actually been known for almost seventy years. 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:37.000 Amazing. I didn't know it was seventy years. I knew 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:38.960 it was a long time, but dang. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:41.080 Yeah, oh it's really Yeah. 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.080 Did you come across the meeting of Zica and any 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:44.679 of your readings? 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:47.920 No? Okay, My favorite. 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:53.320 Part it actually means overgrown what and is Yeah, So 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:56.919 it's taken from Zeica forest and Uganda, which is close 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:01.959 to and Tebbi, where the Rockefeller found established its virus 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:06.800 research Institute in the nineteen thirties. The swampy hot Zekea 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:09.399 forest was the perfect place to accomplish some of the 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:14.320 goals the research institute had laid out, including understanding mesquito ecology, 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.119 exploring which animals are susceptible to different viruses, and the 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:20.679 big one, discovering new viruses. 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.200 And this is a common theme in so many. 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:30.880 Early quote global health institutes. The primary focus was research, 0:23:30.960 --> 0:23:35.880 not intervention. That brings with it a whole other set 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:41.240 of issues about the ethics of early global health research books. Anyway, 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:46.240 So to conduct this research, scientists suspended cages containing sentinel 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:48.919 monkeys of various species in the forest. 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:49.120 Can't be. 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.760 Then they would pull them down occasionally for inspection and 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:59.080 temperature taking. Sounds like a really wonderful way to live alife. 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:02.359 Right, My God has to be a monkey in the 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:06.440 forest so you can like see your friends and you're 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:08.680 in a cage your whole life. 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:12.719 Well, and some weren't from Uganda, some were from various 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:19.320 Asian countries, so extra cool, even better. Yeah, one day, 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:23.119 April nineteenth, nineteen forty seven, to be exact, because you 0:24:23.160 --> 0:24:26.480 know how I like to be exact, of course, a 0:24:26.600 --> 0:24:30.320 monkey with the charming name of Rees's seven sixty six 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:33.639 was observed to have a high fever one hundred and 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:37.560 four degrees fahrenheit forty degrees celsius now that I'm in Finland. 0:24:38.920 --> 0:24:42.879 But blood was drawn and processed, and in it scientists 0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:47.560 found what they called a filterable transmissible agent, which back 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:50.719 then often meant it was a virus, something they couldn't 0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:55.920 easily culture. But this still left many questions. First, was 0:24:55.960 --> 0:24:59.960 it a new virus meaning undiscovered? And was it mosquito born? 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:03.000 To answer the second question, they had to collect many 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:06.040 mosquitoes from the same areas that Reese's seven sixty six 0:25:06.119 --> 0:25:09.560 had been kept, and then test whether these mosquitoes carried 0:25:09.600 --> 0:25:13.159 anything resembling this virus, which meant grinding up and filtering 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:15.960 the mosquitoes and injecting the slurry into the mice or 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:19.280 monkeys they had on hand, and then comparing that to 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:22.800 the infection caused by the filterable transmissible agent that had 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:24.920 originally come from Riese's seven sixty six. 0:25:25.160 --> 0:25:29.880