Zika Virus - An International Public Health Emergency

Zika Virus is a member of the virus family flaviviridae and the genus flavivirus. It is spread by day time active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. This is the same mosquito that spread and causes dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The first known case of Zika fever was reported in a sentinel rhesus monkey stationed on a tree platform in the Zika Forest in Uganda in 1947. Sexual transmission of Zika virus from men to women has been witnessed in at least 4 cases. Zika virus has also been isolated from semen samples. Cases of vertical perinatal transmission, from mother to the baby during pregnancy have been reported. WHO declared the couple of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) cases reported in Brazil are strongly suspected to be associated with the Zika virus outburst. Thus, World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that a coordinated and an organized international response is required to improve surveillance, identification of infections, congenital malformations, and neurological complications, to heighten the control of mosquito populations at risk, and to execute the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to secure people from this international public health emergency.