Microbial Pathogenesis & Infectious Diseases

Zika: The Next Emerging Threat?

Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus, transmitted by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus .The Zika virus causes fever, joint pain, headaches, a rash, conjunctivitis and muscle pain. As with other viruses, it is characterised by spreading via the cells of the body. Both men and women can contract the disease. Flavivirus genomes are between 40 and 60 nm in size.  There are over 3000 types of mosquitoes but it is usually the Aedes mosquitoes that spread Zika from one infected person to another. The disease was then later detected in the Aedes mosquito that also lives in the Zika forest .The Zika virus is believed to be endemic in patients in Asia, Africa. As well as these continents, the virus has also now been detected in the Pacific and Americas.