Stocks To Play In A Zika Virus Pandemic

In a new article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, scientists Daniel Lucey and Lawrence Gostin urge the World Health Organization (WHO) to take urgent action to combat the Zika virus. There is currently no vaccine for the virus, which is linked to shrunken brains in children. Thousands of Brazilians have been infected with the disease, which has now spread to more than 20 countries and is beginning to cause a panic in certain locations.

The CDC says that the U.S. now has 20 confirmed cases of Zika infection from U.S. territories. Zika is spread via infected mosquitos.

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Lucey and Gostin want the WHO to take action now and avoid a repeat of the recent Ebola crisis, which resulted in thousands of deaths.

According to Andy Obermueller, author of the Game-Changing Stocks newsletter, there are many public companies that are well-positioned in the case of a global pandemic, including Chimerix Inc CMRX, Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.

In terms of Zika specifically, Intrexon Corp XON is fighting to use its genetically-modified mosquitos to fight the outbreak in Brazil. Shares are up more than 12.5 percent in Thursday’s session.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.