Modeling Zika Virus Infection in Pregnancy

There were few studies of Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus, until this past year, when large epidemics in the Americas were accompanied by unexpectedly severe clinical manifestations. Infection in pregnant women has emerged as a major global concern because of its linkage to congenital abnormalities including microcephaly, spontaneous abortion, and intrauterine growth restriction.1 In addition, ZIKV infection in other age groups has been associated with severe neurologic disease and the Guillain–Barre syndrome.2 Transmission cycles between humans and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in urban settings can cause large-scale epidemics of ZIKV infection. Although mosquitoes clearly are the primary cause of ZIKV outbreaks, . . .