Latin American Economy & Business - February 2016 (ISSN 1741-7430)

The outbreak of the Zika virus in Latin America has raised concern. Some see it as one more negative impacting the region’s economies, coming hard on the heels of other setbacks such as the commodities slump and the El Niño cycle of disruptive weather. Seen from that point of view, the virus and the panic it may generate will make the Latin American recession go deeper and last longer. But there is a counter-view that holds that the impact of the disease, although negative, will be manageable.