wildly curious
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Zika—The Emerging Epidemic

Sanofi Pasteur (changes made) via CC/Flickr, https://goo.gl/rm35f8, https://goo.gl/cefU8
The aedes aegypti mosquito is the principle vector for transmission of Zika

New York Times reporter Donald McNeil’s new book begins with a mysterious illness that broke out in Brazil in March 2015. The rash and flu-like symptoms were temporary and few were hospitalized. When the Zika virus was pinned as the culprit, Brazil’s health minister brushed it aside as “a benign disease.” Then, nine months later, the babies arrived. Babies with tiny heads. McNeil’s new book tells the story of Zika and he joins us Thursday to assess the very real threat posed by the emerging epidemic.

Donald McNeil is a science reporter covering plagues and pestilence for the New York Times, where he began as a copy boy in 1976. His new book is called Zika: The Emerging Epidemic [Amazon|Indiebound].

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Related Content
  • Wednesday, Doug’s joined by the science writer David Quammen. Twelve years ago, Quammen began researching the concept of “spillover,” the sudden transfer…