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Review: A neglected Flavivirus: an update on Zika virus in 2016 and the future direction of research
Author(s) -
Bharucha Tehmina,
Breuer Judith
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1111/nan.12326
Subject(s) - zika virus , flavivirus , virology , dengue fever , public health , outbreak , arbovirus , west nile virus , global health , guillain barre syndrome , dengue virus , microcephaly , medicine , virus , immunology , pediatrics , pathology
The 2015–16 global emergence of Zika virus infection ( ZIKV ) and its link with Guillain–Barré Syndrome and microcephaly, at the tail‐end of the Ebola epidemic, has provoked unease throughout the international community. The World Health Organisation declared ZIKV a public health emergency on 1st February 2016, but until the 31st March 2016 maintained that there was insufficient evidence that ZIKV was independently responsible for any serious complications. Our current understanding of this arthropod‐borne flavivirus is still at an early stage. The first reported human infections were 60 years ago, and until the first outbreak in Micronesia in 2007, there were only 14 documented cases. Nonetheless, there are parallels that we can draw from our understanding of other related arbo‐flaviviruses, such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile viruses. This article provides a focussed review of the literature on ZIKV to date, with perspectives on the direction of future research.