title: Zika virus: History, emergence, biology, and prospects for control.
abstract: Zika virus (ZIKV), a previously obscure flavivirus closely related to dengue, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever viruses, has emerged explosively since 2007 to cause a series of epidemics in Micronesia, the South Pacific, and most recently the Americas. After its putative evolution in sub-Saharan Africa, ZIKV spread in the distant past to Asia and has probably emerged on multiple occasions into urban transmission cycles involving Aedes (Stegomyia) spp. mosquitoes and human amplification hosts, accompanied by a relatively mild dengue-like illness. The unprecedented numbers of people infected during recent outbreaks in the South Pacific and the Americas may have resulted in enough ZIKV infections to notice relatively rare congenital microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndromes. Another hypothesis is that phenotypic changes in Asian lineage ZIKV strains led to these disease outcomes. Here, we review potential strategies to control the ongoing outbreak through vector-centric approaches as well as the prospects for the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston TX, USA; Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston TX, USA. Electronic address: sweaver@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Instituto da Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
authors.forename: Mariano A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Garcia-Blanco
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Albert I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Instituto da Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saade
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Sealy Center for Structural Biology & Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Sealy Center for Structural Biology & Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Pei-Yong
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston TX, USA; Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston TX, USA.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vasilakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D049674:History, 21st Century; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*