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Full Zika Genome Discovered In Fetus With Microcephaly
photo credit: Over 4,000 children are thought to have been born in Brazil with microcephaly, linked to the Zika virus. Mario Tama/Getty
The link between Zika and development of microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads, is still not yet proven, but the evidence is gradually. Now, for the first time, the researchers found the complete genome of Zika in the brain of a fetus with microcephaly. The virus was found in what scientists describe as "extremely abnormal brain", but not in all other organs of aborted fetus, suggesting that preferentially infects the brain.
While the virus has been known since 1947 when it was identified in Uganda, he has since toured the world. After leaving West Africa, it emerged in Asia, Micronesia and the Philippines before finally arriving in South America, where it was linked to a series of babies born with microcephaly. Why he suddenly emerged with such devastating effect, especially in Brazil, is still unknown, with answers scrambling researchers and vaccine if necessary.
Reports have also flowed into more and more people outside of South America being diagnosed with the virus. Although the active transmission has been limited mainly to the tropics, many people returning from these countries brought the virus with them. In the US, there have been 35 confirmed cases mainly related to travel, while Australia reported their first cases of Zika in a pregnant woman this week. It is important to emphasize that the risk of transmission of the disease in these countries is still close to zero, because it is mainly transmitted through a single mosquito species, which is found only in some areas.
In what is apparently a trend, it seems that Zika have been spreading around the world undetected for some time before the public health emergency was declared by the World Health Organization. In the U.K., for example, seven people have been diagnosed with Zika over the past three years, but four of these cases have been discovered since January. A similar situation was seen in Australia, with one person may have contracted the virus in December last year, but only a positive test last week. Officials believe that with the epidemic in South America is gaining much attention, more people are now test and find that they have the virus unknowingly.
Officials across South America are now embarking on a large-scale mission to control the mosquitoes that spread Zika. Conred Guatemala/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
In an effort to accelerate research on the virus, and to encourage the sharing of knowledge, nature has announced that it will make all documents related to the virus free access until further notice Zika. The publishing group say they were pressured to make a decision after the Ebola epidemic in both 2014 and Zika epidemic underway. They note that in the context of public health emergencies, sharing all information allows all parties involved to make the most informed decisions.
Although no travel bans have been issued, those responsible for public health are still calling people to assess their risks before traveling to countries where the virus transmission by mosquitoes was confirmed. The warning currently only pregnant women, to try to prevent them from infecting their unborn child. There are, however, some concern about the possibility that the virus could be transmitted sexually, and so people are encouraged to use condoms for at least four weeks.
