Evolution of neurovirulent Zika virus A Zika virus mutation leads to increased neurovirulence
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Screaton, Gavin
Mongkolsapaya, Juthathip
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In 2015, Zika virus (ZIKV) became headline news after its association with fetal microcephaly (severely reduced head circumference) in Brazil and was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) (1). However, ZIKV was not new, it was first isolated from the Zika forest, Uganda in 1947 (2). ZIKV incited little interest compared to other flaviviruses, such as dengue virus (DENV), as it was not thought to cause severe disease. ZIKV infections were largely sporadic, and symptoms were usually mild and flu-like, with self-limiting fever, rash, and conjunctivitis. Around 80% of cases were asymptomatic, and epidemic activity had not been described (3). In 2007, large-scale explosive outbreaks of ZIKV infection were described in Micronesia, and the virus spread across the Pacific, reaching South America in 2015, where it rapidly spread through Brazil and neighboring countries (3–5). On page 933 of this issue, Yuan et al. (6) compared sequences of contemporary ZIKV strains with ancestral ZIKV isolates and describe a mutation that increases the neurovirulence of contemporary strains, which they propose underscores the increased pathogenicity of recent outbreaks.
Date Issued
2017-11-17
Date Acceptance
2017-11-01
Citation
Science, 2017, 358 (6365), pp.863-864
ISSN
0036-8075
Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
Start Page
863
End Page
864
Journal / Book Title
Science
Volume
358
Issue
6365
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
INFECTION
Publication Status
Published