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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Can climate patterns help predict where Zika virus will spread next?
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:01
	Publish Date:		2016-04-27 00:00:00
	Description:		Can climate patterns help us predict where Zika virus will spread next? Epidemiologist Chris Barker of the University of California, Davis focuses his research on the ecology and epidemiology of mosquito-borne viruses. He says that weather does in fact affect mosquito behavior, and this can help researchers gauge Zika risk in different regions. "Part of our estimates of risk for mosquito-borne viruses, which includes West Nile virus, and Zika as well, comes from the data we gather from surveillance. And then the other piece of information…is really what the weather is doing, and a large part of that is how warm it is." Barker is also looking at other environmental risk factors that might increase Zika transmission. "And we're interested in how the structure of the urban environment affects the spread, as well as, how seasonality affects the rate of spread, and that helps guide surveillance, and control decisions, to try to limit the spread of these mosquitoes."
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