Virological characteristics of Zika virus and abnormal immune responses induced by Zika virus / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Zika fever is a self-limiting and acute infectious disease caused by Zika virus infection. It is mainly transmitted through the bite of mosquitoes of the Aedes type. It can also be spread through verti-cal transmission. There is evidence that it can also be sexually transmitted from a man to his sex partners due to the presence of the virus in semen. The re-emergence of the virus in 2015 as a major endemic in the South American countries ( which may spread further) warrants better understanding of Zika virus. The outbreaks, transmission routes, virological characteristics and the diagnosis and treatment of Zika virus infection will be summarized in this review. Moreover, the potential correlations between newborn microcephaly and Zika vi-rus infection as well as the possible molecular mechanisms for causing microcephaly such as cell autophagy will also be discussed.