Review on Zika Virus Infection: An Overview

Globally, one of the recent causes of public health concern is the one caused by the arthropod-borne flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes, called Zika virus. In all over the world, approximately, 1.5 million people have infected with this ZIKV disease. This disease is isolated in 1947 from the serum of Rhesus macaques in the forests of Africa, the virus has been quickly emerging on the landscapes of western hemisphere over the past few years (Africa, Asia and Oceania), as a health threat to the masses. From 1969 to 1983 the geographical distribution of Zika virus expanded to equatorial Asia – including Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Indonesia. The Zika virus is phylogenetically related to other medically important mosquito-borne flaviviruses of global public health significance, such as Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, dengue, and yellow fever viruses .The Zika virus infection causes Zika fever that is responsible for several neurological complications like Guillain-Barre Syndrome and congenital malformations like microcephaly in infants born to infected mothers. The primary mode of transmission of ZIKV between humans is through the bite of an infected female mosquito of the Aedes species, which are widely spread in tropical areas. Common diagnostic approaches used for the detection of the virus include molecular amplification (RT-PCR) on serum samples and serological testing for detection of ZIKV IgM antibodies. No Zika virus vaccine exists. There are no licensed antiviral drugs to prevent or treat ZIKV infection or disease. In vitro and in vivo evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of several different types of vaccines, drugs as wells as compounds with anti-ZIKV activity is being carried out that offers hope for human protection against this catastrophic epidemic. The other various alternatives are being evaluated for optimized surveillance, patient management, and public health intervention in the current Zika virus epidemic.