One thing that's different about this virus is that it has been able to spread very, very quickly.
The race is on to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects. Because the World Health Organization declared the virus a global health emergency it will open the door to more resources and funding.
That news will be helpful to a Paulo Verardi, an associate professor in the University of Connecticut's Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, and his students, who have been working to develop a Zika vaccine.
Verardi, a Brazilian native, regularly follows news out of Brazil. His interest was piqued back in October when he read about two babies born the same day, in the same hospital, with microcephaly, a rare condition causing abnormally small heads and brain damage.
“You know back in November, me and my students were saying, ‘how come nobody’s talking about this?’ I mean, I was really shocked, obviously I was telling everybody that I knew. But in general there was absolutely no awareness here,” Verardi said.
Within a month, Brazilian health officials started linking microcephaly with Zika. Just around the same time, Verardi and his students had completed a new method for quickly developing vaccines. They were looking to test the new platform and Zika became their focus. A sort of educated accident.
Then, as more cases of microcephaly were beginning to surface, the information was changing rapidly and the news was everywhere.
“Each day we were getting these reports," Verardi said. "And like, there was double the number of microcephalies, and double this, and double that.”
Verardi is optimistic that a vaccine will be developed soon, since Zika is in the same family as the dengue virus, also mosquito-borne, which they know much more about. But, he pointed out that there seems to be some unusual characteristics about Zika.
"One thing that’s different about this virus is that it has been able to spread very, very quickly," Verardi said. "I mean, perhaps faster than some other viruses of the same family. So there is an element of unknown here, even for the U.S. I think that’s why we have to be very aware of it and be very well prepared for it."
Though his work on the Zika virus is taking place here in Connecticut, it has special meaning to Verardi as a Brazilian.
"It really was a window back to my country," Verardi said. "Looking at what was happening there and trying to do something about it."
As new developments on the effects of the virus continue, Verardi and his students, who have been working seven days a week, said they’re trying to move as quickly as possible. However, Verardi warned, it could still be several years before we see a safe and effective vaccine.
