The Zika virus, also known as ZIKV, is a virus detected since the 1950s in Africa and that over the years has spread throughout the Pacific, Southeast Asia and in 2015 the Latin American countries where the virus has not been found They have stopped growing: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Surinam, Venezuela … The danger from this flavivirus of the Flaviviridae family has caused the WHO to declare the international alert for Zika.
How infection occurs?
The Zika virus has the same vector as dengue and chikungunya, that is, the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Its hosts include monkeys and humans as well. As with other viruses, when the carrier mosquito bites a person, the virus infects dendritic cells near the site of inoculation and then spreads to the lymph nodes and blood.
What are the symptoms?
Only 20-25% of people infected with the Zika virus have symptoms and they are usually quite mild: eye redness, muscle aches, not very high fever, rashes, vomiting, headache, diarrhea … They usually last between 2 and 7 days.
When was this virus identified?
It was isolated from a rhesus monkey in 1947 in the forests of Zika, Uganda (Africa) during a study on the transmission of jungle yellow fever. In 2007, the first relevant outbreak of Zika virus fever occurred on Yap Island, Micronesia.
It is mortal?
In Brazil, the Ministry of Health confirmed up to three deaths related to the virus: a man with lupus, a 16-year-old girl and a baby (but there is an undetermined and vast number of deaths of babies with microcephaly, possibly related to the Zika virus ). At the moment there is no specific vaccine for the virus. The virus is spreading explosively and could infect 4 million people in America.
How to prevent Zika virus infection?
It is advisable to avoid keeping the water in containers that are outside such as flowerpots and to cover the water tanks for domestic use so that the mosquito does not enter; It is also advisable not to accumulate garbage and to use mosquito nets on both windows and doors to reduce the possibility of infection. Fear of the virus has caused various governments in Latin America to advise against becoming pregnant at least until July 2016.
