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In record time and with rigorous research, Debora Diniz replicates the success of previous works and produces the first biography of Zika in Brazil. From the identification of the virus to the discovery of vertical transmission, Zika: From the Northeastern Backlands to the Global Threat details how sugarcane cutters, backwoodsmen, and doctors helped piece together the puzzle of the disease in Brazil and around the world.
Northeastern Brazil, December 2014. Crowds arrive at doctors' offices describing symptoms of a mysterious illness: red spots all over the body, intense itching, conjunctivitis, and a low-grade fever. Scientists and doctors race against time to unravel the mystery. Some time later, women who reported having had mild dengue fever during pregnancy receive a terrifying prenatal diagnosis: white spots on the head and impaired development of the babies' central nervous system. Lines of newborns with small heads fill maternity wards in five Brazilian states.
In April 2015, the unlikely Zika virus was detected as the cause of a mysterious illness in Brazil. Only seven months later, its link to microcephaly and other neurological syndromes—in newborns and adults—was confirmed. In February 2016, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency. Between February and June 2016, Debora Diniz spent time in northeastern Brazil, living with ordinary women, doctors, and scientists. Abroad, from December 2015 to April 2016, she participated in working groups of the Pan American Health Organization.
From this original perspective and rigorous bibliographical research, the author tells the story of the Brazilian epidemic that threatens the world. Beyond information on prevention, transmission, the risks of Zika for pregnant women, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and other complications, the anthropologist reveals stories previously unpublished in the press. Focusing on the population of the Northeast—far from the spotlight and government financial incentives— Zika: From the Northeastern Backlands to the Global Threat shows that thanks to these harsh lives, Zika, with all its devastating potential, revealed itself from the Backlands to the world.
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