Zika-Virus

The Zika virus belongs to the genus Flavivirus of the Flaviviridae family. The virus was first isolated in 1947 from a rhesus monkey from the Zika Forest in Entebbe / Uganda and thus got its name. The complete sequence of the viral genome of an isolate was first published in 2006. The genome consists of a 10.8 kb single-stranded RNA. About the biology and the Zika virus transmission pathways, little is known. The natural occurrence lies in tropical Africa and it is believed that the virus by mosquitoes of the species ( species) Aedes africanus, Ae. apicoargenteus, Ae. luteocephalus, Ae. vitattus, Ae. Furcifer, and Ae. aegypti is transmitted. In 2009, the first time was an infection of people by Zika virus outside of Africa and Asia, and indeed known to the Yap Islands in Micronesia. In May 2013, Canadian fell ill after a stay in Thailand. Symptoms of infection include skin rash, fever, joint pain, conjunctivitis, and rarely muscle aches and headaches and vomiting. The rash holds on average six days earlier from other symptoms take. There have been no deaths. The first outbreak outside of Africa has resulted in the Zika virus is classified as so-called emerging pathogen, ie as pathogens, which will possibly continue to spread across the world. The data published infection gradients were relatively mild, but the number of reported human disease processes is very small. Close relatives of the Zika virus are the flaviviruses dengue virus and West Nile virus, which are also classified as emerging pathogens and can cause severe disease in humans.