A popular topic in the media lately has been the Zika Virus epidemic that has been specifically plaguing the western hemisphere at increasing rates. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control states Zika as the following: “…a member of the Flaviviridae family and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. It is related to other pathogenic vector borne flaviviruses including dengue , West-Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses…Since 2007 Zika virus has caused several outbreaks in the Pacific, and since 2015 it further spread in the Americas. These were the first documented transmissions outside of its traditional endemic areas in Africa and Asia. Zika virus is considered an emerging infectious disease with the potential to spread to new areas where the Aedes mosquito vector is present…”
[1] http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/zika_virus_infection/Pages/index.aspx The name of the virus originated from the Zika Rain-forest in Uganda, which is where the first confirmed case in 1947 was discovered. It wasn’t until 1952 when the first human case was documented and then the virus became more prominent in the equatorial regions of Asia and Africa. According to many sources, from 2015 to present, it has been confirmed that the virus has been spreading throughout North and South America, and to Pacific areas. In lieu of mosquitoes, the virus has been documented to be sexually transmitted, and also transferred through pregnancy to the infant resulting in birth defects, such as microcephaly and other severe brain defects. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus On February 1, 2016 the WHO announced that the virus was a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)”. The map below shows the current Zika outbreak confirmations as of May 29, 2016. The majority of current outbreaks are heavily concentrated in the United States, represented by the red triangles:
Although the United States is now being greatly plagued by this virus, Brazil has far outnumbered the amount of confirmed cases. According to one source, Brazil alone estimates around 1.5 million who been infected with the virus. Out of that 1.5 million, 3,500 were cases of microcephaly just in the past year.[2] Another source claims that Brazil has over 90,000 registered cases of the virus since April, and the defects seen in infants was close to around 5,000.[3] According to the CDC, the United States currently has 591 total cases of Zika, and in the U.S. Territories there have been 939 cases. Below is a map where the CDC is showing the areas where laboratory confirmed cases are located, dating from the beginning of 2015 to May 2016. Overall, the CDC is projecting the sum total being over 1,500 documented cases. New York, Florida, Texas, and California have the highest number of current cases. Out of the U.S. Territories, Puerto Rico has the highest total in the North American region. [4]
[3] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36401150 [4] http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html In recent news, there has been a lot of controversy and discussion on the location of the upcoming Olympics, since they are scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro. The WHO and the IOC have asserted that they see no reason for concern with regards to postponing or finding a new location for the games in August. However, there has been an open letter signed by over 100 “scientists, doctors, and medical ethicists”, claiming the decision to be “unethical”, also stating their concern for the risk involved in spreading the virus from tourists back to their home countries. [4] Now, if we look at this in the End of Times mindset, we can see epidemics have been prophesied in the Bible, especially in the cases of judgment and plagues placed upon mankind. In Revelations and Luke, we find verses that relate to this outbreak in regards to the plagues, and the foreshadowing of what pregnant women would endure in End Times.
Revelations 6:8 [ESV]
“ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”
Luke 21:23 [CJB]
“What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress in the Land and judgment on the people.”
Luke 23:28-29
“Yeshua turned to them and said, “Daughters of Yerushalayim, don’t cry for me; cry for yourselves and your children! For the time is coming when people will say, ‘The childless women are the lucky ones — those whose wombs have never borne a child, whose breasts have never nursed a baby!”
There is also corroboration of prophetic Biblical knowledge hidden in Bible Codes on this topic. On January 29, 2016 the Prime Cleric of the Ecumenical Order of Christ, Richard Ruff, discovered a Bible Code confirming the virus was predicted in the 3,300 year old text.
There are also many conspiracies floating around about this virus, especially about genetically modified mosquitoes being released for testing. According to staff writer Michael Specter of The New Yorker, some claim that the British company Oxitec’s authorized release of mosquitoes in 2012 is to blame for all of the infant defects recently seen in Brazil. Specter explains how the mosquitoes were actually modified to help fight the disease dengue fever. In his own words: “There is no treatment or vaccine for dengue, which affects as many as fifty million people every year. It is a debilitating disease, and the current approach is to use chemicals to kill the mosquitoes that spread it. As I wrote in the piece, the Oxitec mosquitoes are modified so that one gene carries instructions to manufacture far too much of a protein required to maintain healthy new cells; the results are lethal. Scientists keep the gene at bay, and the mosquitoes alive, by placing the antibiotic tetracycline in the insects’ food. The drug latches on to the protein and acts as a switch that can turn it on or off. As long as tetracycline is present, the mosquitoes live and reproduce normally and can be bred for generations. Once they are released from the lab, however, the antidote is gone; the lethal gene goes unchecked. Within days, the males, along with any eggs they help create, will perish. It is worth pointing out that Aedes aegypti don’t fly far or live long; a major traveler would move a few hundred yards and, on average, survive as an adult for ten days or two weeks. The logic of the genetically-modified-mosquitoes conspiracy theory is hard to grasp: it has been four years since they were first released in Brazil. Human pregnancies last nine months. Surely some babies must have been born in the intervening three years. Why were they spared the microcephaly if the genetically modified mosquitoes are to blame? Moreover, the altered mosquitoes had previously been released in the in the Cayman Islands, Malaysia, and Panama without causing problems. Viruses constantly spread and mutate, and that began long before humans arrived on Earth.” [5] http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-dangerous-conspiracy-theories-about-the-zika-virus
Instead of focusing on all of the big conspiracies thrown around about the spreading of this virus, we need to delve into the bigger picture. This is a real epidemic, and pointing fingers will not help us realize what is really going on. Quoting the Imperial Regent of Lord RayEl, Angelus Domini, “It’s being concentrated in heavily Christian/Catholic regions, mostly Latin, in hopes of waking them up…” Now, do not get too comfortable by thinking that because you are not located in these heavily affected areas it should not concern you. It does not seem like the spreading rate of this virus is slowing down any time soon, especially in the western hemisphere. These are not words to put anyone in a state of panic, but to share information and awareness. Out of all the evidence shown, this could possibly be a plague of Biblical proportions and it seems like the best idea is to heed the words of Scripture. Regardless, it should be a wake-up call to everyone because it exhibits that the End Times are upon us.