Mosquito-transmitted epidemics: Zika Virus in the United States and Mexico (original) (raw)
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The Zika outbreak of the 21st century
The Zika virus outbreak has captivated the attention of the global audience and information has spread rapidly and wildly through the internet and other media channels. This virus was first identified in 1947, when it was isolated from a sentinel rhesus monkey placed by British scientists working at the Yellow Fever Research Laboratory located in the Zika forest area of Uganda, hence its name, and is transmitted primarily by the mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. The fact that the rhesus macaque is an Asian species being placed in an African forest brings to mind the possibility of rapid adaptation of the virus from an African to Asian species, an issue that has not been considered. Whether such adaptation has played any role in acquiring pathogenicity due to cross species transmission remains to be identified. The first human infection was described in Nigeria in 1954, with only scattered reports of about a dozen human infections identified over a 50-year period. It was not until 2007 that Zika virus raised its ugly head with infections noted in three-quarters of the population on the tiny island of Yap located between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean, followed by a major outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013. The virus remained confined to a narrow equatorial band in Africa and Asia until 2014 when it began to spread eastward, first toward Oceania and then to South America. Since then, millions of infected individuals have been identified in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, including 25 additional countries in the Americas. While the symptoms associated with Zika virus infection are generally mild, consisting of fever, maculopapular rash, arthralgia and conjunctivitis, there have been reports of more severe reactions that are associated with neurological complications. In pregnant women, fetal neuro-logical complications include brain damage and microcephaly, while in adults there have been several cases of virus-associated Guillain-Barre syndrome. The virus was until recently believed to only be transmitted via mosquitoes. But when the Zika virus was isolated from the semen specimens from a patient in Texas, this provided the basis for the recent report of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus. Due to the neurological complications, various vectors for infection as well as the rapid spread throughout the globe, it has prompted the World Health Organization to issue a global health emergency. Various governmental organizations have recommended that pregnant women do not travel to countries where the virus is epidemic, and within the countries affected by the virus, recommendations were provided for women of childbearing age to delay pregnancy. The overall public health impact of these above findings highlights the need for a rapid but specific diagnostic test for blood banks worldwide to identify those infected and for the counseling of women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy. As of this date, there are neither commercially licensed diagnostic tests nor a vaccine. Because cross-reactivity of the Zika virus with dengue and Chikungunya virus is common, it may pose difficulty in being able to quickly develop such tests and vaccines. So far the most effective public health measures include controlling the mosquito populations via insecticides and preventing humans from direct exposure to mosquitoes.
Outbreaks of Zika have occurred not only in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands but also in South and Central America. Several travel-related Zika virus infections have been reported in countries in Europe and North America. With the increased reporting of Zika virus transmission in the Americas, countries should create and maintain the capacity to identify and confirm cases of Zika virus infection and effective strategies to reduce the mosquitoes that transmit the disease should be established. In a globalized world, infectious diseases can move faster and easier when vectors such as Aedes Egypti mosquito has become naturalized in several parts of the world. Although the natural transmission cycle of zika virus involves mosquitoes, especially Aedes spp, perinatal transmission, potential risk for transfusion-transmitted and sexually transmitted zika virus infections has also been demonstrated.
Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal, 2017
REVIEW ARTICL outbreaks were reported in Brazil of South America for the first time and it is now considered as an emerging infectious disease 3. A significant increase of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) was reported during the 2014 outbreak in French Polynesia. A similar increase along with an unusual increase of congenital microcephaly was observed in some regions in north eastern Brazil in 2015. Causal relationships are currently under investigation 4. Though Zika infections are generally confined to America, there is always a risk of spreading to the rest of the world and at present there is no
Zika Virus: A threat to global Public health- WHO Faramework Review
NeuroPharmac Journal
Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever. Background Zika virus is an emerging viral disease that is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, primarily Aedes aegypti, the same vector that transmits chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. Zika has a similar epidemiology, clinical presentation and transmission cycle in urban environments as chikungunya and dengue, although it generally causes milder illness. Symptoms of Zika virus disease include fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache, which normally last for 2 to 7 days. National health authorities have reported an observed increase of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and microcephaly. Today the Brazilian national authorities estimate 500,000 to 1,500,000 cases of Zika virus disease. In October 2015, both Colombia and Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, reported their first outbreaks of the virus. As of 22 January 2016 Colombia had reported 16,419 cases, El Salvador 3,836 cases and Panama 99 cases of Zika virus disease. As of 12 February, a total of 39 countries in multiple regions have reported autochthonous (local) circulation of Zika virus, and there is evidence of local transmission in six additional countries. As per the health authorities India has not reported any case of Zika Virus. Health Authorities in India is taking adequate precaution to keep Zika Virus outside the India.
Zika, Chikungunya, and Other Emerging Vector-Borne Viral Diseases
Annual review of medicine, 2017
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) have a long history of emerging to infect humans, but during recent decades, they have been spreading more widely and affecting larger populations. This is due to several factors, including increased air travel and uncontrolled mosquito vector populations. Emergence can involve simple spillover from enzootic (wildlife) cycles, as in the case of West Nile virus accompanying geographic expansion into the Americas; secondary amplification in domesticated animals, as seen with Japanese encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and Rift Valley fever viruses; and urbanization, in which humans become the amplification hosts and peridomestic mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, mediate human-to-human transmission. Dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika viruses have undergone such urban emergence. We focus mainly on the latter two, which are recent arrivals in the Western Hemisphere. We also discuss a few other viruses with the potential to emerge ...
International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2017
Zika virus (ZIKV) disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquito. It presents as flu-like symptoms lasting for 5-7 days and shows potential association with neurological and autoimmune complications such as congenital microcephaly and adult paralysis disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome. Treatment measures are conservative as the disease is self-limiting. ZIKV earlier affected several tropical regions of Africa and Asia from 1951 to 2006. Subsequently, it moved out from these regions to land as outbreaks in Yap Island, French Polynesia, South America, and most recently in Brazil. The WHO declared it as an international public health emergency in 2016 and an extraordinary event with recommendations for improving communications, tightening vigil on ZIKV infections, and improving mosquito control measures. The authors in this article aim to briefly discuss ZIKV infection, its epidemiology, clinical manifestations, management, and prevention.
Zika virus: A newly emergent vector-borne public health threat in the Americas
2016
Zika virus is a newly emergent mosquito-borne flavivirus. Once almost ignored epidemiologically, recent major outbreaks and links to neurological birth defects have focused attention on this neglected pathogen. We review the discovery, biology and symptomatology of Zika virus, what is known and not known about the mosquitoes that transmit the virus, conspiracy theories currently hampering control efforts, and potential avenues of Zika control. It is likely that Zika virus is here to stay in the Americas, so a thorough understanding of the complete epidemiological transmission cycle and potential effects on the human population will be critical for managing this new disease in the coming years.