World News for Students of English

01-02-2016 07:00

The Zika virus, believed to cause brain defects in babies, is spreading explosively across Latin American countries with Brazil suffering an estimated 1.5 million cases. The mosquito-borne infection is expected to affect up to 4 million people this year.

This mother said her daughter seems to be in constant pain and hardly ever stops crying.

The army has been taking to the streets in Brazil to try to eradicate the mosquito that thrives in stagnant waters and around rubbish. An army deployed against an insect, and the insect so far is winning with experts warning of vaccine against the virus will not be available for some years, but people are right to be worried.

“We certainly have to be worried. It’s new, it’sspreading very fast. The consequences are very severe. Babies are a vulnerable population. We worry what happens about them.”

Most people who catch the illness will only have mild symptoms, but for pregnant women, the virus could be life-changing.

Difficult words: explosively (extremely quickly), borne (carried), eradicate (to destroy completely), stagnant (not moving), deploy (to move into position), severe (very bad), vulnerable (in danger).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com