First report of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus in Brazil

Abstract

In the early 2015, several cases of patients presenting symptoms of mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis and arthralgia were reported in the northeastern Brazil. Although all patients lived in a dengue endemic area, molecular and serological diagnosis for dengue resulted negative. Chikungunya virus infection was also discarded. Subsequently, Zika virus (ZIKV) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from the sera of eight patients and the result was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the ZIKV identified belongs to the Asian clade. This is the first report of ZIKV infection in Brazil.

Dengue infection in the nervous system: lessons learned for Zika and Chikungunya

“…In Brazil, the first report of autochthonous transmission of ZIKV was confirmed in May 2015, in the state of Bahia. It was then established that genomic characteristics identified in the country were similar to the virus isolated in French Polynesia, during the outbreak of 2013 5,7 . From 2013 to February 2016, cases of ZIKV infection have been registered in 28 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean 8 .…”

The Convergence of a Virus, Mosquitoes, and Human Travel in Globalizing the Zika Epidemic

“…Zika-infected islands such as French Polynesia, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, and Easter Island participated in this sporting event in several categories. This information, combined with the phylogenetic studies of Zanluca et al and Campos et al, suggest that this event may have been a catalyst for the introduction of Zika into Brazil [15][16][17]. As convincing as this evidence is, it is also possible that a traveler or travelers from infected Pacific islands visited Brazil outside of the context of these sporting events.…”

Protocols on prenatal care for pregnant women with Zika infection and children with microcephaly: nutritional approach

“…1,2 After several speculations about microcephaly etiology, currently, there is sufficient evidence to infer a causal relation between Zika virus infection in the prenatal period, microcephaly and other severe abnormalities of the brain. The etiological explanation is also supported by the hypothesis absence of plausible alternatives, despite the extensive analysis of possible causes.…”

“…1 When it is symptomatic, the infection may present low fever (or, possibly, no fever), macula-papular exanthema, arthralgia, myalgia, headache, conjunctival hyperemia and, less frequently, edema, odynophagia, dry cough and gastrointestinal alterations. Severe and atypical forms are rare, but, when they occur, they may exceptionally evolve to death.…”