Have you ever had dengue fever? I guess of those of you living in Southeast Asia, 30% will answer ‘yes.’ The same goes for zika in Latin America, and chikungunya in Africa. And with zika now emerging as a threat also in Asia, we can learn from our experience fighting dengue to better face this challenge. With more than a third of the world’s population now living in areas at risk of infection, dengue is a leading cause of illness in the tropics and subtropics. Up to 400 million people are infected worldwide every year, and this number is increasing due to the rapid spread of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the virus. Aedes aegypti mosquitos travel for example in old car tires, which are traded across the globe. Aedes aegypti mosquitos also transmit the chikungunya and zika viruses, the latter of which is making big news headlines because of the possible link to microcephaly. in newborns of infected mothers. But for your information, zika is not a new disease... — blogs.adb.org/blog