Zika virus - wiki

Zika virus /ˈziːkə, ˈzɪkə/ (ZIKV) is a member of the virus family Flaviviridaeand the genus Flavivirus. It is spreadby daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus.Its name comes from the Zika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses.

Flavivirus is a genus of viruses in the family Flaviviridae. This genus includes the West Nile virus, dengue virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, yellow fever virus, Zika virus and several otherviruses which may cause encephalitis.

Zika fever (also known as Zika virus disease) is an illness caused by the Zika virus. Most cases have no symptoms, but when present they are usually mild and can resemble dengue fever. Symptoms may include fever, red eyes, joint pain, headache, and a maculopapular rash. Symptoms generally last less than seven days. It has not caused any reported deaths during the initial infection. Infection during pregnancy causes microcephaly in some babies. Infections in adults has been linked to Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS).


Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika transmission (as of January 2016)


Spread of Zika





Spread of Zika in Africa and Asia, based on molecular sequence data

 Further reading:

Zika virus associated with microcephaly

J Mlakar, M Korva, N Tul, M Popović, M Poljšak-Prijatelj… - New England Journal of …, 2016

Cited by 196

[PDF] infectos.com.br

Zika virus outbreak on Yap Island, federated states of Micronesia

MR Duffy, TH Chen, WT Hancock, AM Powers, JL Kool… - New England Journal of …, 2009

Cited by 433

Zika virus (I). Isolations and serological specificity

GWA Dick, SF Kitchen, AJ Haddow - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical …, 1952

Cited by 315