In:

Médecine et maladies infectieuses

Authors:

S. Ioosa, H.-P. Mallet, I. Leparc Goffart, V. Gauthier, T. Cardoso, M. Herida

Abstract

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus (Aedes), similar to other arboviruses, first identified in Uganda in 1947. Few human caseswere reported until 2007, when a Zika outbreak occurred in Yap, Micronesia, even though ZIKV activity had been reported in Africa and in Asiathrough virological surveillance and entomological studies. French Polynesia has recorded a large outbreak since October 2013. A great number ofcases and some with neurological and autoimmune complications have been reported in a context of concurrent circulation of dengue viruses. Theclinical presentation is a “dengue-like syndrome”. Until the epidemic in French Polynesia, no severe ZIKV disease had been described so far. Thediagnosis is confirmed by viral genome detection by genomic amplification (RT- PCR) and viral isolation. These two large outbreaks occurred in apreviously unaffected area in less than a decade. They should raise awareness as to the potential for ZIKV to spread especially since this emergentdisease is not well known and that some questions remain on potential reservoirs and transmission modes as well as on clinical presentations andcomplications. ZIKV has the potential to spread to new areas where the Aedes mosquito vector is present and could be a risk for Southern Europe.Strategies for the prevention and control of ZIKV disease should include the use of insect repellent and mosquito vector eradication.

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