Zika spreads rapidly due to mild symptoms, says Mumbai expert

Zika virus spreads rapidly due to its mild symptoms, said a researcher at Evolutionary Medicine of Indian Astrobiology Research Centre, Mumbai. "Based on the insight of vector ecology, I proposed a conceptual framework that addresses important questions about Zika's transmission," said Nitesh Pandey, who is currently working on the pattern of virus spread.

"A majority of the diseases that is transmitted by Aedes aegypti vector spreads rapidly and has mild symptoms," he said.

Diseases like Zika that cause mild symptoms in most of the cases spread rapidly. On the other hand, diseases with debilitating symptoms have limited transmission potential. Therefore, the transmission rate of Zika is maximum among the arbovirus, Pandey mentions in his research paper.

The mobility of infected humans is not very high for Zika. The disease causes asymptomatic infection in more than 80% cases. Rest of the human subjects, who are symptomatic, usually have mild symptoms.

The mobility of the infected humans is not at all affected in case of Zika. On the other hand, Chikungunya has severe symptoms like high fever and joint pain and dengue causes fluctuating fever, said Pandey.