Talk:2015–16 Zika virus epidemic

Move history of the Zika outbreak to this page

I propose moving most of the history portion of Zika virus to this page. Events of the ongoing outbreak in Brazil, including the microcephaly, should be here rather than there. See the pages on Ebola: Ebola virus, Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and Ebola virus disease and other outbreak pages. juanTamad (talk) 03:13, 22 January 2016 (UTC) I'm working on a revision here. I'm suggesting a title change to Zika virus outbreak in the Americas" since it has spread beyond Brazil. juanTamad (talk) 05:13, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

I've currently got a proposal to include the Zika Virus article in In The News. I dropped this Brazil article after being told there that the Virus article was in good shape but the Brazil article was not. So please take that into consideration before gutting the Virus article prematurely. Tlhslobus (talk) 13:41, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

Also 'In the Americas' won't do - the latest CDC travel advisory covers Cape Verde in Africa and Samoa in Oceania.Tlhslobus (talk) 13:45, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

In 12 hours I'll have finished this Zika_virus_outbreak_in_the_Americas_(2015_-_present). I'll replace the Brazil page with this. Probably better to link to In the News to this new page about the ongoing outbreak. juanTamad (talk) 15:52, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

Linking ITN to here would require people there to reverse their current view that this article is in poor shape. It won't have helped that the recent changes lost what was being said in the ITN blurb (which I've now added back). And as pointed out in my previous comment 'In the Americas' is unsatisfactory because the latest CDC travel advisory covers Cape Verde in Africa and Samoa in Oceania (and there'll presumably be more such non-American countries soon) - Oceania and Africa are two more bits of info 'lost' by recent changes which I'd like to add back, but which I'm a bit reluctant to do just yet for fear of highlighting the inadequacies of the current title before a new one is agreed.Tlhslobus (talk) 05:15, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

The Americas is where the current outbreak is taking place, so it is appropriate to call it the Americas (Cape Verde is not important). See Zika Virus in the Americas — Yet Another Arbovirus Threat. The history of presence in Africa and Oceania belongs in the history section of the Zike virus/fever pages, not on this outbreak page. Sorry about deleting the sentence on other warnings. I'm still working on it. juanTamad (talk) 05:27, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

Well, if the current outbreak really is confined to the Americas, then the article would seem to need to explain to our readers (and to editors at ITN) why the CDC has just advised against travel to 2 places in Africa and Oceania (which I lack the necessary info to be able to do).Tlhslobus (talk) 06:18, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

Also it should seemingly be Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present), to meet our MOS Dash standards (which is something else lost by recent changes - see this item in our Edit History: 02:04, 24 January 2016‎ Hvn0413 (talk | contribs)‎ m . . (1,808 bytes) (0)‎ . . (Hvn0413 moved page Talk:Brazil Zika virus outbreak (2015 - present) to Talk:Brazil Zika virus outbreak (2015–present): MOS:DASH) (undo | thank)).Tlhslobus (talk) 06:18, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

That said, thanks for all the hard work you're putting into this.Tlhslobus (talk) 06:43, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

The big news since May 2015 is the pandemic spread of this disease into the Western hemisphere. Isolated outbreaks on Cape Verde and Samoa are incidental. I don't think that negates calling it a spread into the Americas. Unaware of the dash MOS. juanTamad (talk) 07:31, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

I was no longer primarily talking about the article name. If you were part of the 80 to 90% of humankind who lives outside the Western Hemisphere, as I am, then anything that suggests that the epidemic is spreading beyond the Western Hemisphere is disturbing. So if the CDC is issuing travel warnings about Cape Verde and Samoa we would like Wikipedia to tell us precisely why, and in particular whether or not this is because the virus has spread there from the Western Hemisphere (it's much less disturbing if it's been there for years, but our article doesn't currently tell us that). So if those travel warnings are just mentioned without explanation that can be seen as detracting from the quality of the article regardless of its title. Tlhslobus (talk) 10:06, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

Tlhslobus spot on. I ve made these comments on the Zika virus page all along. Otherwise, I actually dont see the good work of juanTamad who in his impatience is acting a bit disruptive with page moves, deletions and such. theres no deadline. The good shape that the Zika virus page is in, has come from careful incremental editing.--Wuerzele (talk) 18:22, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Duplicate map image

Is there a reason the map File:CDC map of Zika virus distribution in January 2016.jpg is included twice? Seems redundant to me, are there other images that can provide unique information? --Animalparty! (talk) 19:25, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

I've changed the infobox one to a current-situation map, and I left the one in the article body which shows past outbreaks. Brightgalrs (/braɪtˈɡæl.ərˌɛs/)^[1] 22:12, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

Thank you all for working on the map. Geraldshields11 (talk) 04:12, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Location in the title?

Shouldn't the title indicate the location of the outbreak? See links ot recent outbreaks on Dengue fever outbreaks and links under See Also on Outbreak. juanTamad (talk) 00:11, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

I think Brazil is a little too specific. Would anyone object to something like 2015 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas or 2015 Western Hemisphere Zika virus outbreak? These describe the present situation adequately (How else do you describe Brazil, Latin America, and The Caribbean?) and reflects WHO's prediction for it to spread further. Brightgalrs (/braɪtˈɡæl.ərˌɛs/)^[1] 15:02, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Number of cases confused?

The same number (2782+) is being used as the number of cases of Microcephaly and the number of cases of the Zika virus, both for Brazil.

Which is it?

It's the cases of Microcephaly. I've changed the infobox table to reflect the number of cases is unknown. Brightgalrs (/braɪtˈɡæl.ərˌɛs/)^[1] 16:12, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

The table needs to indicate clealry that those are reported cases of microcephaly thought to be linked to zika virus infection, not cases of zika fever. juanTamad (talk) 00:39, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Fixed this by moving it to a note. Brightgalrs (/braɪtˈɡæl.ərˌɛs/)^[1] 02:28, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 25 January 2016

Zika virus outbreak in Brazil (2015 - present) → Zika virus outbreak (2015 - present) – This outbreak is occurring in several countries. Rubbish computer (HALP!: I dropped the bass?) 19:28, 25 January 2016 (UTC) Rubbish computer (HALP!: I dropped the bass?) 19:28, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

• Improperly formatted proposed title – it should be Zika virus outbreak (2015–present). --IJBall (contribs • talk) 04:04, 26 January 2016 (UTC)
• Alternate proposal. Removing the reference to Brazil is fine, but we should adhere to the naming convention for outbreaks and the MoS on date ranges by moving it to "2015–16 Zika virus outbreak" (with en dash). Refer to List of epidemics for precedent, especially near the end. larryv (talk) 04:23, 26 January 2016 (UTC)
• Support Zika virus outbreak (2015–present) or Zika virus outbreak (2015 – present). prokaryotes (talk) 06:11, 26 January 2016 (UTC)
  • It should not be a "spaced ndash" (e.g. {{sndash}}) in this case, so the latter example would not be correct. --IJBall (contribs • talk) 06:36, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

According to the naming convention for outbreaks, it should be 2015 American Zika virus outbreak, but since American implies United States, it might be 2015 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas. juanTamad (talk) 00:42, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

• Support over current title. I suggested 2015 Western Hemisphere Zika Virus outbreak or 2015 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas above, if geographic location is necessary, that is. Brightgalrs (/braɪtˈɡæl.ərˌɛs/)^[1] 02:29, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Either one, much better. juanTamad (talk) 07:47, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Alrternatively, might use 2015 Western Hemisphere Zika fever outbreak or 2015 Zika fever outbreak in the Americas, since the disease rather than the agent is often used, but not consistently one or the other. juanTamad (talk) 07:50, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

• Support change to "Zika virus outbreak (2015 - present)" - Outbreaks are most often international; in this case it includes Oceania and Africa ([1]), so we should not limit the title to geography. Cheers, BatteryIncluded (talk) 14:39, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

CDC briefing for clinicians

Here's a nice presentation on Zika from the CDC; it's a link from "|Zika Virus — What Clinicians Need to Know". About 15 slides down there's a nice map, source Pan American Health Organization - which is WHO/PAHO copyrighted. Might be worth getting permission. Shows the growth in microcephaly cases. juanTamad (talk) 19:25, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Section headings

Like to microcephaly is not a symptom. It belongs under epidemiology, and symptoms belong on the Zika fever page. juanTamad (talk) 02:11, 28 January 2016 (UTC) Support. If there's consensus, I suggest integrating 'Symptoms' into the disease page (Zika fever), deleting here. That's the way all the outbreak pages are that I've seen, makes sense. juanTamad (talk) 02:14, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Different regions

The WAPO mentioned a test in the Piracicaba region, while Oxitec only mentions Juazeiro region. I searched the Oxitec website, but it has nothing about the P region. I suggest to use the region per the comapny, and the related study publication http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0003864 prokaryotes (talk) 17:47, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 29 January 2016

Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present) → 2015 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas – Per Wikipedia:Naming conventions (events)#Health incidents and outbreaks as its more of an appropriate title for the event instead of placing the year behind the title. Adog104 ^{Talk to me} 19:08, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

• Comment I have no real opinion about the name as long it reflects Zika and virus outbreak. Though, keep in mind we have to rename again if this thing keeps spreading. prokaryotes (talk) 21:02, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

• Yeah, this is just to put the year before the title and omit the word 'present'. Adog104 ^{Talk to me} 23:14, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

"In the Americas" requires no further name change for further spread in the western hemisphere. juanTamad (talk) 05:49, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

The "most widespread outbreak of Zika virus in history"

Not sure this is best way to express this, not that it isn't widespread and most widespread in history, but there's only one other notable outbreak I think, Yap, and smaller ones in the Pacific, and it appeared in Cape Verde islands. Ebola west Africa uses the expression, but there were many smaller Ebola outbreaks, starting with the first recognized, in the 1970s, I think it was. juanTamad (talk) 05:49, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Stribes? Not in ref given?

I can't seem to find "stribes" (or "stripes" or "white") anywhere in the ref given for this sentence: "Both have white stribes and marks and can spread more diseases." Zeniff (talk) 17:48, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Appears to come from the inline article link, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_albopictus#Characteristics Though white and black pattern is mentioned. prokaryotes (talk) 17:58, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Some kind of typo and incompetent edit. I pruned the sentence out of the paragraph, as the information is duplicated elsewhere in the article. — Quicksilver^{T @} 21:23, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Mexico is in North America

Since Mexico is in North America, the first paragraph should mention South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. I don't know why so many articles in English ignore the fact that Mexico is in North America. Jgsodre (talk) 21:54, 30 January 2016 (UTC)