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故事地圖

On 1st February 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) declared “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” in response to the recent emergence of neurological disorders and neonatal malformations in South America, for which a causal linkage between the mosquito-borne Zika virus disease and the cases is highly suspected. Zika virus is transmitted through the bites of Aedes mosquitoes, which have been known to cause other infections. The map shows the geographical distributions of actively transmitting Zika virus and 4 other Aedes-transmitted diseases, namely Dengue fever, Yellow fever, Chikungunya fever and West Nile virus infections. These diseases are mostly found in tropical and subtropical region, where sufficient temperature and moisture favour the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes. Of these, dengue is currently most widely spread around the world. Yellow Fever is concentrated in countries in Africa and South America, while Chikugunya prevails in South East Asia, Africa and South America. West Nile virus infection is most commonly reported in USA. Currently most of Zika virus infections came from South America, and the number of countries reporting new cases has continued to rise.

Other than designing vaccines against Zika virus, scientists are studying the deployment of genetically-modified mosquitoes to restrict the growth of risky mosquitoes. Nevertheless, preventive measures at personal level are the most effective way to prevent these mosquito-borne diseases.

Data for this map were derived from statistics from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA

世界衛生組織於2016年2月1日宣布美州地區所爆發之神經系統疾病及初生嬰兒畸形為『國際關注的突發公共衛生事件』，而以蚊子傳播的寨卡病毒極大可能與此有關。寨卡病毒以伊蚊為媒介，而伊蚊為人類帶來多種早為人知的傳染病。地圖顯示五種以伊蚊為媒介傳播的疾病現時在世界各地的活躍情況，包括寨卡病毒感染、登革熱、黃熱病、基孔肯雅熱及西尼羅河病毒感染。這些疾病大多活躍於熱帶及亞熱帶地區，其充沛溫度及濕度對伊蚊繁殖十分有利。當中的登革熱所涉範圍最廣，黃熱病主要在非洲及南美洲某些國家傳播，基孔肯雅熱則在東南亞、非洲和南美洲較為活躍，而美國的西尼羅河病毒感染報告最多。目前大部份寨卡病毒感染源自南美洲，報告新個案的國家正繼續上升。

面對新的寨卡病毒，科學家除了研發疫苗外，還研究使用基因改造蚊子以減少有害伊蚊繁殖。在個人層面，防蚊措施實為最有效防止感染的方法。地圖資料源自美國疾病控制與預防中心。