Zika virus is a mosquito-borne illness first identified in Uganda in 1947 in a Rhesus macaque monkey. The disease spread from Africa to Asia but, since 2007, outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in the Americas. In 2015, there was a large epidemic of the virus in Brazil, which had a new and unexpected outcome: some pregnant women infected with the virus gave birth to babies with microcephaly, a smaller than normal head size.
Most people who contract the Zika virus will not develop any symptoms. For those who do, symptoms typically begin three to 14 days after infection, are generally mild, and last for two to seven days.
Typical symptoms include:
Women infected with Zika virus during pregnancy – even if they have no symptoms – risk having babies with defects including severe microcephalic and optic nerve abnormalities. It is also linked to miscarriage, stillbirth and preterm birth.
Zika virus infection has also been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disease where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves. It has also been linked to neuropathy, a condition that affects the nerves, and myelitis, inflammation of the spinal cord.
Zika virus is mainly spread by the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which bite mostly during the day. It can also be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. Other possible routes of transmission include sexual contact, transfusion of blood and blood products, and possibly organ transplantation.
There is no specific treatment for Zika virus infection. If symptoms occur, it is recommended that people get plenty of rest, drink fluids, and take pain relief such as paracetamol. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen should be avoided until dengue virus infections are ruled out because of bleeding risk.
Pregnant women with suspected Zika virus or living in areas where there are outbreaks should seek medical attention.
Prevention of Zika virus primarily focuses on avoiding mosquito bites. This can be achieved by:
Sexual transmission of Zika virus can be prevented by practicing safer sex or abstinence. For people returning from areas with active Zika virus transmission, the WHO recommends practicing safer sex or abstinence for a period of three months for men and two months for women.
No vaccine is yet available for the prevention of Zika virus infection although there are several in development.
Scientists have reported success with introducing a bacteria called Wolbachia into Aedes mosquitoes – this was first developed to block the mosquito’s ability to transmit dengue, but is effective in other diseases such as Zika.
Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in a Rhesus macaque monkey. Sporadic human infections were detected across Africa and Asia from the 1960s to the 1980s. Since 2007 outbreaks of Zika have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific.
The virus had been thought to be a relatively mild disease and there was little concern about its spread until the outbreak in Brazil in 2015 when the association between Zika and birth defects in babies born to affected mothers was first seen. A study by researchers in China in 2017 showed that a single mutation in the virus enabled it to have this devastating effect.
The epidemic was classed a global health threat by the WHO although cases of Zika virus disease declined from 2017. However, it still circulates: the first local mosquito-transmitted Zika virus disease cases were reported in Europe in 2019, and a Zika virus outbreak was detected in India in 2021. Climate change is thought to increase the risk of the disease emerging in new areas.
who.int/fact-sheets/zika-virus
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