Department of Microbiology, University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan.
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
J Basic Microbiol. 2018 Jan;58(1):3-16. doi: 10.1002/jobm.201700398. Epub 2017 Nov 13.
Zika virus is one of the emerging viruses and is of significant threat to human health globally. It is a mosquito borne flavivirus similar to dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. It was reported about 5 decades ago and then it spreads to different parts of the world. Large outbreaks were reported on Yap Islands in 2007. Now it has gained wide attention globally by health communities. Major vector for virus transmission is Aedes aegypti mosquito. ZIKV infection is mostly asymptomatic but it is also responsible to cause mild influenza like illness to serious manifestations. There is no specific anti-viral treatment is available for ZIKV infection. The virus disseminates very fast due to which it possesses a serious threat especially in those areas where there is lack of specific immunity against virus. Little knowledge is available on its transmission and pathogenicity. Although virus was discovered years ago but its genomic structure is not clearly understood yet. In this review we focus on the current knowledge of epidemiology of ZIKV, its transmission, its structural biology, different aspects of diagnosis and diagnostic challenges as well as highlighted appropriates antiviral drugs and vaccines regarding treatment.
Zika 病毒是一种新兴病毒，对全球人类健康构成重大威胁。它是一种蚊媒黄病毒，类似于登革热、黄热病和西尼罗河病毒。大约 50 年前有报道称，它已传播到世界不同地区。2007 年，雅浦岛爆发了大规模疫情。现在，它已经引起了全球卫生界的广泛关注。病毒传播的主要媒介是埃及伊蚊。ZIKV 感染大多无症状，但也可引起轻度流感样疾病，严重时可出现严重症状。目前尚无针对 ZIKV 感染的特效抗病毒治疗方法。由于病毒传播速度非常快，因此在那些缺乏针对该病毒特异性免疫力的地区，它构成了严重威胁。关于其传播和发病机制的知识有限。尽管该病毒多年前就已被发现，但它的基因组结构仍未被完全了解。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了 ZIKV 的流行病学、传播途径、结构生物学、诊断的各个方面及诊断面临的挑战，以及针对治疗的适当抗病毒药物和疫苗。
