From A to Zika...

Apparently, we are an infectious disease hot spot at the moment.

What was first assumed to have been an unusual outbreak of Dengue Fever (which is not normally found in Yap) has now turned out to be an epidemic of Zika Fever.

While being similar to Dengue Fever in causing skin rashes and joint pains, Zika Fever is much milder, not even causing fever in most patients. The reason it is such a big deal in Yap right now is that it has previously only been observed in Uganda and Malaysia and it showing up in and spreading in Yap is quite unexpected and provides a unique opportunity to study this unusual disease. Apparently this is the infectious disease event of the year.

While Zika is often assumed to be spread by mosquitos, the lead US researcher and expert on mosquito spread diseases on location in Yap doubts that is really the case, considering how it has spread in Yap.