The 2015-16 global emergence of Zika virus infection (ZIKV) and its link with Guillain-Barré Syndrome and microcephaly, at the tail-end of the Ebola epidemic, has provoked unease throughout the international community. The World Health Organisation declared ZIKV a public health emergency on 1st February 2016, but until the 31st March 2016 maintained that there was insufficient evidence that ZIKV was independently responsible for any serious complications. Our current understanding of this arthropod-borne flavivirus is still at an early stage. The first reported human infections were 60 years ago, and until the first outbreak in Micronesia in 2007, there were only 14 documented cases. Nonetheless, there are parallels that we can draw from our understanding of other related arbo-flaviviruses, such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile viruses. This article provides a focussed review of the literature on ZIKV to date, with perspectives on the direction of future research.
Keywords: Flavivirus; arbovirus; emerging infection; public health.
© 2016 British Neuropathological Society.