UNE infectious disease experts give interviews about Zika virus

Meghan May, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences in the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and Dora Anne Mills, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., vice president for Clinical Affairs, were recently interviewed about the threat of Zika, a virus that has been getting international attention after spreading rapidly in South and Central America, with some cases being reported in the United States.

May, who specializes in epidemiology and infectious disease, was featured in stories on WMTW and WCSH. She discussed the threat the disease poses to pregnant women. She said that 80% of people don’t even realize they are infected. "Someone who is not pregnant, the implications are practically non-existent,” May said. “They have zero symptoms at all. They don't even feel the slightest sniffle, the slightest fever, not even tired. It is very, very mild illness."

In an article in the Portland Press Herald, Mills advised pregnant women to heed travel warnings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. “The CDC is saying do not travel to these countries if you’re pregnant, and that’s very good advice. It is transmitting and spreading very quickly.”

Watch the stories on WMTW and WCSH.

Read the article in the Portland Press Herald.