Zika virus

Zika virus is spreading rapidly in the Americas.The virus was identified in the late 1940s in Africa but was first confirmed in Brazil in May 2015.It has since been identified in more than 27 countries and territories in the region. 1 2 Spread to the Americas was predicted because of the abundance of the mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. [3]4][5][6] Clinicians worldwide need to be aware of Zika virus infection owing to international travel and the presence of another potentially competent mosquito vector (Aedes albopictus) in North America and southern Europe.Some Brazilian regions experiencing outbreaks of Zika infection have reported an apparent increase in congenital microcephaly and post-infective neurological syndromes, particularly Guillain-Barré syndrome (see boxes 1 and 2). 2 The association of these conditions with Zika virus infection is currently unproved and is under investigation.On 1 February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil, following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014, a public health emergency of international concern. 7If Zika virus infection is confirmed to cause congenital microcephaly, this could lead to a large international burden of infant neurological morbidity.Zika virus infection should be considered in people presenting with compatible symptoms who have recently returned from countries where outbreaks of the infection are occurring.This review provides up to date information at the time of publication on Zika virus, its evolving epidemiology, how to recognise its clinical presentation, possible complications, and how to confirm the diagnosis.