Berkeley

After Brazil Olympics, Zika Continues to Plague Babies in Urban Slums

Published

9 years ago

March 25, 2017

By Brett Israel, UC Berkeley News

Many international travelers to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, openly considered skipping the games to avoid the threat of Zika. Despite the fears, not a single case of Zika or its major neurological complication, microcephaly, was reported by foreign visitors. The near-paranoia — and the diversion of scarce resources to protect a low-risk population — could have been avoided by heeding the lessons of previous epidemics, argues a new study from public health researchers at UC Berkeley.

The researchers analyzed the burden of diseases that are similar to Zika and found that seasonal patterns in their spread foreshadowed Zika’s decline leading up to the games. As Zika tapered, and news coverage of the epidemic became less frequent, the truly vulnerable people became invisible, according to the study. Both during the games and today, mothers living in Rio’s sprawling urban slums give birth weekly to microcephalic babies — children born with abnormally small heads and a range of other complications.

“Zika is just another example of how populations that reside in these urban slum communities are ignored, neglected and invisible,” said study author Lee Riley, a professor in the Berkeley School of Public Health, who has spent nearly 25 years studying urban slums in Brazil. “What happened with Zika is just like what happened with the spread of Ebola; nobody said a word about it in urban slums.”

The study was published last week in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The research was a collaboration with their colleagues Claudete Araújo Cardoso, Fabio Aguiar-Alves and Felipe Neves at the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil.

Except for sporadic reports, Zika is a disease of the urban poor. Slum-defining characteristics such as poor water and sanitation infrastructure, crowding and poor structural quality of housing offer ample opportunities for mosquitoes to breed and spread the Zika virus.

The species of mosquito that most commonly transmits Zika will, on average, travel a mere 100 meters in its lifetime. In the densely populated slums of Brazil, a single 100-square-meter space could contain more than 100 housing structures, up to three stories high, with a resident population upwards of 1,000.

These residents can be infected multiple times by mosquitoes circulating in such neighborhoods.

Yet during the Rio games, the world’s attention focused on issues related to tourists. Wealthy residents or tourists in high-rise apartment buildings with screened windows, air conditioning and regular spraying of insecticides, even if located adjacent to these slums, are less likely to be exposed to such mosquitoes.

To illustrate how Zika fears were misplaced, and to offer one example for how the public-health community can use data to better understand future epidemics, the study compared other mosquito-borne diseases carried by the same mosquito that carries Zika, such as dengue virus.

The study showed that peak incidence of these diseases in Brazil occurred during the hottest and wettest months. Because August is a winter month in the Southern Hemisphere, incidence of the diseases plummeted around this time. Even the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s most recent Epidemiologic Bulletin reported no new cases in Rio de Janeiro between early August and September.

Taken together, these data suggest that Zika infections would have tapered off well before the Olympics, which is just what happened.

“Our study suggests that if we had looked at whether or not Zika would be a problem using previous epidemiological evidence, we would not have wasted energy or effort worrying about tourists getting Zika,” said Robert Snyder, the study’s lead author and program manager for the Center for Global Public Health.

Predictive models suggest the ongoing Zika epidemic may run out of steam after two or three more seasons, but these models do not consider how urban slums and their highly mobile populations affect the disease’s dynamics, according to the study.

“One of the biggest questions with Zika is, what is the future going to be like?” Snyder said. “We have no idea what the characteristics of this disease moving forward will be.”

“If the public-health community had looked at the examples of previous epidemics, maybe we could have invested more effort in helping the people in urban slums who are actually being affected by Zika,” Snyder said.

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Related Topics:Brazil Health UC Berkeley US Olympics Zika

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Activism

Black Repertory Group Needs Volunteers to Help Shape the Next Generation of Artists and Leaders

Legendary performers such as Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover worked with and were inspired by BRG’s founders. More recently, Grammy award-winning artist Kehlani attended the Black Repertory Group Summer Day Camp for several years.

Published

1 month ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy image.

By Sean Vaughn Scott, Special to The Post

For more than 60 years, the Black Repertory Group (BRG) has changed lives through the arts.

Founded in 1964 by educators and visionaries Birel L. Vaughn and Nora Vaughn, BRG has become one of America’s oldest continuously operating Black theater institutions. For generations, it has preserved culture, developed talent, and provided opportunities for young people to discover their voices and their potential.

The results speak for themselves.

Long before international recognition, Kehlani performed on the BRG stage. During a summer day camp production of “Princess and da Frog,” she portrayed Ray, the lovable firefly whose light guided others through the darkness. Her journey is proof that today’s camper may become tomorrow’s artist, entrepreneur, educator, or leader.

Located at 3201 Adeline St. in Berkeley, BRG continues that mission through its Youth Summer Day Camp of the Arts.

BRG is currently accepting applications and maintains an open enrollment program. Students may enroll throughout the summer as space permits and immediately become part of the BRG family.

We are also proud to be a multicultural opportunity program, welcoming children and families from all backgrounds, cultures, and communities. Through theater, music, dance, public speaking, visual arts, technical theater, and leadership development, students gain confidence, discipline, creativity, and lifelong skills.

As our programs grow, so does our need for volunteers.

We are seeking community members to assist with youth mentoring, registration, costumes, set construction, painting, props, ushering, photography, social media, marketing, technical theater, and fundraising activities. Whether you volunteer for a few hours or throughout the season, your support directly impacts the lives of young people.

BRG also partners with churches, civic organizations, alumni associations, fraternities, sororities, and community groups through theater party fundraisers, group sales, and buy-out performances. These partnerships have helped organizations raise funds while supporting arts and cultural programming.

The theater also serves as the home of the Berkeley NAACP Chapter, which meets every second Saturday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more than six decades, the Black Repertory Group has remained committed to one belief: every child deserves an opportunity to shine.

The next great artist may already be among us.

The next Kehlani may already be walking through our doors.

We invite you to volunteer, enroll, participate, and become part of the legacy.

For more information please go to www.blackrepertorygroup.com, call (510) 652-2120, or email info@blackrepertorygroup.com

Sean Vaughn Scott is the director of the Black Repertory Group.

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Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

1 month ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

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Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

11 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.