From WNYC in New York, this is on the media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield. A disease is in the news.

Tonight, the mysterious disease causing international anxiety.

The Zika virus is spreading rapidly through the Americas, and that's left researchers scrably.

Experts say is spreading

explosively, could in fact as many as four million people in the Americas in the next year. Four

million. It seems not so long ago that another foreign pathogen was threatening U.S. shores,

prompting media hyperbole and anxiety.

You may have long since stopped worrying about Ebola.

Are you ready for Zika?

Probably not, but here are the basics.

Zika is a mosquito-borne illness, spread primarily by the Edist-Egypti mosquito found across the world,

including throughout the southern United States.

While the symptoms are relatively mild, the virus has inspired horror because of its observed but not yet confirmed association with microcephaly, babies born with underdeveloped brains, notably in Brazil. Also unproved but observed

ties to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a sudden paralysis. These potential effects prompted the

World Health Organization to declare Zika a global health emergency. Countries across Latin America

advised women to avoid pregnancy, and President

Obama requested $1.8 billion in funds to confront the virus.

But how much should we worry about Zika? How clear are the links between the virus and

microcephaly? What can Zika tell us about future outbreaks?

We're going to spend the rest of the show waiting through the Zika waters.

Jonathan Katz was in Haiti last month when he began to show symptoms.

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