Who discovered the Zika virus?
Abstract. Zika virus was discovered in East Africa in 1947 by the Rockefeller Foundation during investigations on the ecology of yellow fever. Although it was subsequently shown to have widespread distribution in Africa and Asia, it was not known to cause epidemics until 2007.
Where did the Zika virus originate?
Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 and is named after the Zika Forest in Uganda. In 1952, the first human cases of Zika were detected and since then, outbreaks of Zika have been reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
How many Zika cases are there in the world?
It has been estimated that more than 200,000 cases of Zika virus disease occurred, and approximately 8600 babies were born with malformations in that country. The epidemic has since waned and as of May 2019 no countries were reporting active outbreaks of Zika virus.
What is the Zika virus scientific name?
Zika virus is a single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, genus Flavivirus.
How did the Zika virus end?
So it’s much more accurate to ask, why the dramatic decrease in cases? Well, it could be for a variety of reasons but a lot of experts say it’s due to, in part, herd immunity. Because so many people in Brazil were infected in 2015 and 2016 a lot of people there could now be immune to Zika.
Where is Zika virus most common in the world?
Especially high-risk areas include several of the Pacific Islands, a number of countries in Central, South and North America, and islands near West Africa. Because the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus are found worldwide, it’s likely that outbreaks will continue to spread to new regions.
What types of cells does Zika virus infect?
Tang et al. [29] was able to confirm that neural stem and progenitor cells were preferentially targeted by ZIKV. Furthermore, the capability of ZIKV to infect human neural progenitor cells (NPCs) has been confirmed in several studies.
What type of organism causes Zika virus?
Zika virus disease is caused by a virus from the Flavivirus genus, Flaviviridae family, from the Spondweni group. It was first isolated in 1947 from a monkey in the Zika forest, Uganda, then in mosquitoes (Aedes africanus) in the same forest in 1948, and in a human in Nigeria in 1952.
What is the target organ of Zika virus?
ZIKV exhibits broad tropism, and the localization of its cellular targets that have been identified so far range from the brain, placenta, and skin, to testis, kidney, and retina.
What part of the body does Zika virus affect?
Zika virus directly infects brain cells and evades immune system detection, study shows. Summary: The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to microcephaly and other neurological problems in newborns of affected mothers directly infects the brain progenitor cells destined to become neurons, researchers report in a new study …
Where is Zika most common?
Being in tropical and subtropical areas increases your risk of exposure to the Zika virus. Especially high-risk areas include several of the Pacific Islands, a number of countries in Central, South and North America, and islands near West Africa.