The 2007 Yap Islands Zika virus outbreak represented the first time

Zika virus Zika virus (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active ''Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where ...

had been detected outside

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. It occurred in the Yap Islands, an island chain in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

. Zika virus (ZIKV) is a

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

-borne flavivirus in the same family as yellow fever,

dengue Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Asymptomatic infections are uncommon, mild cases happen frequently; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after ...

, West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses.

Epidemiology

In 2007, physicians in the Yap Islands reported to the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

of an illness characterized by

rash A rash is a change of the skin that affects its color, appearance, or texture. A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, chapped, dry, cracke ...

conjunctivitis Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye or Madras eye, is inflammation of the conjunctiva, the thin, clear layer that covers the white surface of the eye and the inner eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness ...

, and

arthralgia Arthralgia () literally means ' joint pain'. Specifically, arthralgia is a symptom of injury, infection, illness (in particular arthritis), or an allergic reaction to medication Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceuti ...

. Initial serum testing revealed some patients had the IgM antibody against dengue virus, yet the patients' signs and symptoms were clinically distinct from dengue fever. Subsequent retesting using consensus primers detected the presence of Zika virus RNA. A household survey was conducted to determine the proportion of Yap residents with the IgM antibody against Zika virus and to identify possible mosquito vectors of Zika virus. In total, the Yap Islands outbreak had 49 confirmed and 59 probable cases of Zika virus disease. The patients resided in 9 of the 10 municipalities on Yap. None of the patients required hospitalization. No hemorrhagic manifestations occurred and no deaths resulted. It was estimated that 73% (95% confidence interval, 68 to 77) of Yap residents 3 years of age or older had been recently infected with Zika virus. '' Aedes hensilli'' was the predominant mosquito species identified. The outbreak of

Zika fever Zika fever, also known as Zika virus disease or simply Zika, is an infectious disease caused by the Zika virus. Most cases have no symptoms, but when present they are usually mild and can resemble dengue fever. Symptoms may include fever, conju ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

demonstrated the transmission of Zika virus outside Africa and Asia. This was considered a significant finding in that previously only 14 cases of Zika virus had been documented since the virus was first identified in 1947. Prior to the Yap Islands outbreak, no previous outbreaks of Zika virus had ever been reported and only 14 cases had been documented since the virus was first isolated in 1947. All previous cases had occurred within Africa and Asia.

Reservoir

Aedes aegypti ''Aedes aegypti'' ( or from Greek 'hateful' and from Latin, meaning 'of Egypt'), sometimes called the Egyptian mosquito, dengue mosquito or yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that spreads diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, malar ...

'' has been recognized as the vector of Zika virus. The virus was first isolated in 1947 from a

sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...

stationed on a tree platform in the Zika forest, Uganda.

Transmission

Transmission is typically via the bite of the ''Aedes aegypti'' mosquito, although in this outbreak, ''Aedes hensilli'' was the predominant mosquito species identified.

References

External links

Flaviviridae Genomes
database search results from th
Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center

Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Flaviviridae

Consensus primers
{{Zoonotic viral diseases 2007 disease outbreaks 2007 in the Federated States of Micronesia Disease outbreaks in the Federated States of Micronesia Yap Zika virus outbreak

Epidemiology

Reservoir

Transmission

See also

References

External links