Behind the Zika headlines, there are underlying drivers of disease risk that are not getting sufficient attention. Climate change and El Nino have been mentioned, and – as with any pest and illness restricted to certain temperature zones – can be factors.
But most important is the simple fact that, after a burst of effective mosquito eradication decades ago, a host of countries (Brazil in particular) relaxed such efforts, and did so just as humanity’s boom in urbanization and global mobility got into high gear.
In essence, the tropics are not facing a Zika emergency nearly as much as they are facing an Aedes aegypti emergency.
This mosquito species thrives in trash-strewn, puddly cities, bites in daylight (limiting the utility of bed nets) and has long posed a peril by carrying a host of dangerous ailments, including yellow fever, chikungunya and dengue.
Zika is simply the newest globe-hopping hitchhiker.
