Prioritizing the ‘Dormant’ Flaviviruses

Excerpt

Probably the most disturbing fact of the ongoing Zika epidemic is that this virus is not new. Zika is not new to science, as SARS coronavirus was when it first emerged in 2003, nor did it experience dramatic evolutionary change like influenza does through reassortment. Instead, Zika has been lurking in the shadows for almost 70 years. It was hidden in developing countries with poor disease surveillance, isolated island populations in the Pacific, and poorly studied animal hosts. We knew about Zika in 1947 when it was discovered in a jungle in Uganda. We knew the epidemic potential when Zika barraged through Micronesia in 2007. In retrospect, we should have also been aware of its link to microcephaly in the Pacific island outbreaks. We knew the possibility of sexual transmission when an American mysteriously infected his wife after returning from a field trip in Senegal in 2008. Yet, we were still unprepared. …