For nearly 70 years, scientists have known of the existence of an obscure mosquito-borne virus that has gradually spread from its birthplace in Africa to the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and even some far-flung islands in the Pacific. But few of those infected got sick, and most of those who did suffered no more than a mild fever and a rash. And so it wasn’t until Zika exploded with previously unseen speed and severity across Brazil and the rest of South America in 2015 that the world — and researchers — began to pay the virus much heed. Now, as evidence mounts that Zika can cause a host of grim birth defects, and as transmission of the virus by mosquitoes extends across the U.S. territory...
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