About the Briefing
This handout was created for the AHA’s September 12, 2016, Congressional Briefing on the Zika virus. Panelists John R. McNeill (Georgetown Univ.) and Margaret Humphreys (Duke Univ.) discussed the process of fighting a mosquito-borne disease, as well as historical parallels and lessons in the policy responses to public health crises in the Western Hemisphere. Alan M. Kraut (American Univ.) moderated the discussion.
A recording of the briefing is available to watch on the AHA’s YouTube channel.
Introduction
- Zika is a viral illness that causes severe birth defects. It is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, sexual contact, and possibly by blood transfusions & needle sharing. In most people, it causes a mild illness.
- The virus is carried by the same mosquito that spreads yellow fever and dengue.
- There are now > 2500 travel-related cases in the U.S. (51 western hemisphere countries report it).
- In Puerto Rico there are > 10K lab-confirmed cases and >1K cases in pregnant women (as of August 12). CDC expects 6-10K pregnant women will contract it this year.
- In Florida, 49 cases confirmed by local spread.
- In NYC, at least 61 pregnant women have Zika.
- Federal funding for Zika will run out soon; 75% of Americans polled by Kaiser Family Foundation favored Congressional funding to fight the disease.
Which diseases attract political attention, and why?
- They cause panic (like yellow fever, Ebola) due to high mortality and broad susceptibility.
- They have major financial impact.
- There is a clear path to technological fix.
What are the barriers to Zika control in the U.S.?
- Small numbers affected (so far).
- Regulating sexuality & pregnancy is politically difficult.
- Vaccine development is slow, needs funding, and runs into “anti-vax” sentiments.
- Mosquito control is expensive, involves potentially toxic chemicals, is breeding resistance in PR, and may damage ecosystem (damage to pollinators).
- Education of individuals involves cultural challenges, much manpower.
The need is urgent.
- The mosquitoes are present and ready to spread this disease, especially in recently flooded areas of the south. We face the potential of large numbers of severely disabled children born due to this virus. Will this be the thalidomide of our generation?
Participant Biographies
John R. McNeill has held two Fulbright awards and fellowships from Guggenheim, MacArthur, and the Woodrow Wilson Center. His books include Something New Under the Sun (2000), winner of two prizes, listed by the London Times among the 10 best science books ever written (despite not being a science book), and translated into 9 languages; The Human Web (2003), translated into 7 languages; and Mosquito Empires (2010), which won the Beveridge Prize from the AHA and was listed by the Wall Street Journal among the best books in early American history. In 2010 he was awarded the Toynbee Prize for ‘academic and public contributions to humanity.’ Contact him at mcneillj@georgetown.edu.
Margaret Humphreys is the Josiah Charles Trent Professor in the History of Medicine at Duke University. She received her PhD in the History of Science (1983) and MD (1987) from Harvard University. She is the author of Yellow Fever and the South (Rutgers, 1992); Malaria: Poverty, Race and Public Health in the United States (Johns Hopkins, 2001); Intensely Human: The Health of the Black Soldier in American Civil War (2008); and Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American Civil War (2013). She teaches the history of medicine, public health, global health, food, and biology to undergraduates at Duke University, and is editor emeritus of the Journal of the History of Medicine. Contact her at meh@duke.edu.
Alan M. Kraut is University Professor and Professor of History at American University. He holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Uniformed University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD and he is a Nonresident Fellow of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Silent Travelers: Germs, Genes, and the “Immigrant Menace,” Goldberger’s War: The Life and Work of a Public Health Crusader, and Covenant of Care: Newark Beth Israel and the Jewish Hospital in America. His scholarly projects have been supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, the American Philosophical Society, the National Institutes of Health, and the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. Contact him at akraut@american.edu.
