The Microbes Have Won Again

Last Friday, November 18, the World Health Organization decided to take the Zika virus off of Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) status on the grounds that, as the agency’s Peter Salama told the press, “Zika is here to stay, and the WHO’s response is here to stay.”

So Zika may now be added to the pantheon of viruses and bacteria that have recently emerged from obscurity to become permanent threats to human health. Welcome to the club, Zika—meet your peers, HIV, XDR-TB, Ebola, Marburg and a long list of other killers.