Zika Virus Research Paper

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, a member of the Spondweni serocomplex, whose natural transmission cycle involves mainly vectors from the Aedes genus (A. furcifer, A. taylori, A. luteocephalus and A. africanus) and monkeys, while humans are occasional hosts. The illness is usually mild comprising symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. Thus, for this reason, many people might not realize they have acquired the infection. The good news is that once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections by developing disease-related specific antibodies. Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever and is named after the Zika forest in Uganda. In 1952, the first human cases of Zika were detected in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania and since then, outbreaks of Zika have been reported in tropical …show more content…
The symptoms are similar to other arbovirus infections such as dengue, and include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito and last for 2-7 days. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected. Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but it can be found longer in some people. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections. Other people infected with Zika virus won’t even know they have the disease because they won’t have