Zika virus

Sherif Zaki worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more than 30 years, and was renowned for uncovering crucial intel on various outbreak-causing scourges, from Ebola and Zika to SARS and influenza.

Randomized, controlled research conducted in an Indonesian city confirms the reduction in cases seen with previous observational work.

By avoiding the production of antibodies, something vaccines ordinarily induce, the immunization sidesteps the problem of antibody-dependent enhancement, which can amplify infection by a similar virus and is known to occur with dengue and Zika.

A study explains how Zika was present among mosquitoes in Africa for decades without causing the harm to human health seen outside the continent in recent years.

A study of Nicaraguan children links prior Zika virus infection with aggravated dengue fever symptoms.

Elevated levels of a neurotoxin in northeastern Brazil’s drinking water and a high incidence of microcephaly in the region led scientists to look for a link, and they found one.

By infecting glioblastoma cells but not healthy brain tissue, some form of the virus could serve a therapeutic purpose.

Children were 38 percent less likely to show signs of Zika infection if they had previously had dengue.

Climate change may open up new habitats suitable for the virus’s spread.

The results suggest the virus could severely alter brain development in infants infected after birth, but blocking a signaling protein early on might ease certain symptoms.

Warmer weather is thought to be behind the rise in vector-borne illnesses in recent years.

The findings highlight the need for long-term monitoring of children exposed to the virus, say scientists. 

The drugs’ disruption of the microbiome makes a subsequent flavivirus infection more severe.

Studies in mice suggest that other flaviviruses, such as West Nile virus and Powassan virus, may cause birth defects, too. 

The rise occurred in areas with confirmed local transmission, according to a new CDC report. 

Signaling pathways triggered by the mother’s immune system may cause complications during fetal development.

A single receptor on natural killer cells recognizes an amino acid sequence conserved across Zika, dengue, and related pathogens.

More-sophisticated structures lend new insight into how Zika attacks the developing brain.

The US government has approved the deployment of the lab-raised insects to eliminate the Zika- and dengue-transmitting Asian tiger mosquito.