The world sat rapt as President Barack Obama touched down in Havana in March 2016, the first US President to visit Cuba in 88 years. Across the island, Cubans anticipated Obama’s arrival with hope-tinged disbelief; it was hard to fathom that rapprochement had come this far after decades of estrangement and hostility. The capital’s streets were abuzz, with Cubans throwing themselves into urban beautification efforts to receive the US First Family in style. Yet, Havana also buzzed with something else, a threat that transcends politics, national borders and differences of opinion: the mosquitoes that transmit Zika, dengue and chikungunya. These arboviral infections are spread by two Aedes mosquitoes (aegpyti and albopictus)—highly adaptable creatures that bite during the day and thrive in hot urban climates.

Although Zika had been detected in humans in Uganda and Tanzania as far back as 1952, outbreaks of the nonfatal virus were not confirmed in the Americas until 2014. But in Brazil, where the latest outbreak began spreading swiftly, some 1.5 million suspected Zika cases were reported by February, 2016,[1 1. World Health Organization. Zika situation report 19 February 2016 [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2016 Feb 19 [cited 2016 Feb 20]. Available from: http://apps. who. int/iris/bitstream/10665/204454/1/zikasitrep_19Feb2016_eng. pdf? ua= 1