More than 2.17 billion people around the world live in habitats suitable for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is currently spreading in Central and South America.

Credit: J. M. Messina et al. eLife http://doi.org/bfmg (2016)

Women infected with Zika virus when pregnant are at increased risk of giving birth to infants with microcephaly, which stunts brain development. Jane Messina at the University of Oxford, UK, and her colleagues used data on virus incubation, mosquito ranges and environmental and socio-economic variables associated with Zika outbreaks to produce a fine-scale global map that predicts areas with a high risk of virus spread (pictured, in red).

The map shows Florida and Texas to be ideal environments for Zika transmission, whereas southern Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, for example, are less likely to experience outbreaks. More than 5 million births in the Americas alone could be at risk from Zika infection over the next year, the authors say.

eLife http://doi.org/bfmg (2016)