Overview on the Biology, Management and Control of Zika Virus Diseases
- Vol. 9(01), Jan-Mar
- Raipur Asian Pharma Press 2019
- 35-41p.
The Aedes mosquito that deposits the virus in the epidermis and dermis of the bitten host during a blood meal transmits ZIKV. Indeed, both skin fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes were found to be highly permissive to infection with ZIKV Infection of skin fibroblasts rapidly resulted in the presence of high levels of RNA copy numbers and a gradual increase in the production or ZIKV particles over time, indicating active viral replication in the infected cells. The first direct detection of ZIKV in Asia as well as the first evidence of transmission by an urban vector occurred when the virus was isolated from A. aegypti mosquitoes collected in Malaysia in 1966. The structure of zika virus bears similarities with the other viruses of the Family of Flaviviridae and the Genus of Flavivirus, especially Dengue Virus (DENV). Flaviviruses are classified in Taxonomy under the group ‘ssRNA positive-strand viruses, no DNA stage where RNA strand directly provides the template for viral protein synthesis without any intermediate DNA step. During the health crisis, no hospitalizations or deaths were recorded, but it was the first time that Zika fever was found to be hemorrhagic. Additionally, this was the first time that ZIKV was discovered outside of the typical geographical range – Africa and Asia. It was hypothesized that ZIKV could spread to other Pacific Islands.