Almost every year, it seems as if there is a new virus spreading rapidly throughout the world causing a worldwide panic. In 2009, it was the swine flu (H1N1 virus) and then last year, the Ebola virus spread through multiple countries but this year, the Zika virus is the disease that is getting the attention of the world.

The Zika virus is spread from person to person via mosquitoes, however, only one in five people infected by the Zika virus will actually become sick. If a person does become sick, a few symptoms that are caused by the Zika virus include a fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. However, these symptoms will only last up to a few weeks and hospitalization usually isn’t necessary.

Over the past few months, the number of reports of the Zika virus being infected in mosquitoes has climbed substantially. A case of the Zika virus has been reported to the CDC (Center of Disease Control and Prevention) in almost every South and Central American country including Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Mexico. There have also been cases reported in one Pacific Island country, the Samoa, and one African country, Cape Verde. The whole list of countries where a case of the Zika virus has been reported can be found here.

The CDC issues warnings based on the seriousness of the disease on a scale between one and three. The least serious level (Level 1), recommends people to use regular precautions while traveling although there is an above average risk of obtaining the disease. Next, the Level 2 warning suggests for travelers to take enhanced precautions as well as suggesting to delay travel to the vacation destinations. Finally, the most serious level (Level 3) tells travelers to avoid all non-essential travel to the destination and shows that there is a high risk to all travelers.

Over the past few weeks, the CDC has put out Level 2 Alerts in all of Central America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, South America, and Cape Verde.

Although there have been no reported cases of the Zika virus in the United States, there has been cases reported in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.  However, the citizens of the United States and people of the rest of the world shouldn’t worry too much about becoming infected by the Zika virus because the virus causing death is very rare.