Voices From The Vanguard Lecture: Thomas W. Scott on Zika

Dengue fever debilitates, sickens and even kills millions of poor people around the world every year—many of them young children. And the same mosquitoes that carry dengue also spread other high-profile viruses such as zika, the subject of a World Health Organization warning that pregnant women should avoid travel to certain countries for fear of severe birth defects. Thomas W. Scott, a Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the University of California at Davis, will give lecture titled "The Human Factor: People, Places and The Fight Against Infected Mosquitoes."

Understanding the complexities of pathogen transmission is essential for disease prevention, says Scott, who will share his research on the development of disease transmission dynamics, an approach that he says is “among the most promising frontiers for improved mosquito-borne disease prevention.” This involves combining insights from the social and biological sciences.

A leader in his field, Scott has directed epidemiological studies of dengue in Thailand and Peru to better understand transmission dynamics and innovative approaches to control. Although he’ll use dengue to explain these concepts, he’ll also discuss how they apply to zika and chickunguyna. Both these diseases are expanding their range and becoming greater threats.

This is the second event in this year’s Global Diseases: Voices from the Vanguard lecture series.

For more information, visit: http://grady.uga.edu/news/view/expert_on_controlling_mosquitoes_that_spread_dengue_zika_to_speak_in_global#.Vr5W9hgrKia