Zika virus

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This page is about microbiologic aspects of the organism(s).  For clinical aspects of the disease, see Zika virus infection.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Nate Michalak, B.A.

Zika virus
rash on arm due to Zika virus
rash on arm due to Zika virus
Virus classification
Group: Group IV ((+)ssRNA)
Family: Flaviviridae
Genus: Flavivirus
Species: Zika virus

Organism

  • Zika virus, also known as ZIKV, is an enveloped, icosahedral virus with a single-stranded, positive sense RNA genome. The most closely related virus is the Spondweni virus and is one of the two viruses in the Spondweni virus clade.[1]
  • The ZIKV genome consists of 10,794 nucleotides that encode 3,419 amino acids[2]
  • ZIKV is a member of the Flaviviridae family and of the flavivirus genus.
  • There are two lineages for ZIKV: African and Asian.[2]

Human Pathogen

Transmission of ZIKV to humans is believed to occur through infected mosquitoes. The following species have been identified as vectors for the virus:[3]

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2

ZIKV has also been proven to be sexually transmitted between humans by Brian Foy, a biologist at Colorado State University, in 2009. [4] Mosquito-borne ZIKV is thought to initially replicate in dendritic cells near the site of inoculation before spreading to lymph nodes and then the bloodstream.

Refererences

  1. FIELDS, B. N., KNIPE, D. M., & HOWLEY, P. M. (2007). Fields virology. Philadelphia, Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Hayes EB (2009). "Zika virus outside Africa". Emerg Infect Dis. 15 (9): 1347–50. doi:10.3201/eid1509.090442. PMC 2819875. PMID 19788800.
  3. Duffy, Mark R.; Chen, Tai-Ho; Hancock, W. Thane; Powers, Ann M.; Kool, Jacob L.; Lanciotti, Robert S.; Pretrick, Moses; Marfel, Maria; Holzbauer, Stacey; Dubray, Christine; Guillaumot, Laurent; Griggs, Anne; Bel, Martin; Lambert, Amy J.; Laven, Janeen; Kosoy, Olga; Panella, Amanda; Biggerstaff, Brad J.; Fischer, Marc; Hayes, Edward B. (2009). "Zika Virus Outbreak on Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia". New England Journal of Medicine. 360 (24): 2536–2543. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0805715. ISSN 0028-4793.
  4. Foy, B. D.; Kobylinski, K. C.; Foy, J. L. C.; Blitvich, B. J.; Travassos Da Rosa, A.; Haddow, A. D.; Lanciotti, R. S.; Tesh, R. B. (2011). "Probable Non–Vector-borne Transmission of Zika Virus, Colorado, USA". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 17 (5): 880–882. doi:10.3201/eid1705.101939. PMC 3321795. PMID 21529401.