Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2016;43(3):466-470

doi:10.13220/j.cnki.jipr.2016.03.012

Disease briefing:Zika virus infection

Reuters THOMSON

Keywords

Zika virus; microcephaly; diagnosis; prevention; drug therapy

Country

China

Language

Chinese

Abstract

Zika virus(ZIKA),a member of the Flaviviridae family,was discovered serendipitously in 1947 in the Zika forest of Uganda. In May 2015,the Pan American Health Organization(PAHO)issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infec? tion in Brazil. Recently,the virus has been tentatively linked to a severe neurodevelopmental birth defect known as microcephaly in in? fants born to mothers who were infected during pregnancy. The virus has gradually become the hot spot in international medical re? search. The health authorities are calling for the rapid development of diagnostics,vaccines and antiviral drugs.