Zika epidemic likely to peter out within 3 years

New Delhi: Zika epidemic has reportedly reached the peak in Latin America and it should likely be over within three years, claim researchers at the Imperial college London.

"The current explosive epidemic will burn itself out due to a phenomenon called herd immunity," said Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial's School of Public Health.

"Because the virus is unable to infect the same person twice -- thanks to the immune system generating antibodies to kill it -- the epidemic reaches a stage where there are too few people left to infect for transmission to be sustained."
This should happen within two to three years, he added.

Then, this herd immunity "will likely delay the next large Zika epidemic for more than a decade."

The virus, though first discovered in 1947, largely took public health officials by surprise when it began spreading through the Americas last year and causing birth defects.

(With IANS inputs)