Puerto Rico’s battle with Zika is giving local and U.S. health authorities a rare chance to better understand the disease as it makes its relentless march across the Americas.
The island has advantages over Latin American and Caribbean nations that lack its modern medical system. It has strong public-health surveillance and anticipated Zika’s arrival, unlike Brazil, where the virus spread unnoticed for months.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 25% of Puerto Rico’s 3.5 million population will be infected with Zika by the end of 2016, says Tyler Sharp, epidemiologist in the CDC’s dengue branch, based in San Juan, which researches dengue and other viruses that are transmitted by the same mosquitoes as Zika.
Mark my words, the ones gaining from this will be the politicians.
