User:Jtamad/draft American Zika virus outbreak (2015 - present)

Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015 - present)

Since April 2015, a large, ongoing outbreak of Zika fever that began in Brazil has spread to other countries in South and Central America. Local authorities suspected the outbreak was due to an increased influx of foreign visitors attending the 2014 FIFA World Cup, coupled with the large population of Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus mosquitoes in the region. The virus had previously been present only in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. French Polynesian researchers argued that none of the Pacific countries with circulating Zika virus participated in the soccer games and have suggested that the outbreak is more likely linked to the Va'a World Sprint Championship canoe race in August 2014.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a vector-borne flavivirus in the same family as yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis viruses. It is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Besides Zika, a high incidence of the autoimmune disease Guillain–Barré syndrome was noted in French Polynesia and later in Brazil. Zika virus was first linked with newborn microcephaly during the Brazil Zika virus outbreak. In 2015, there were 2,782 cases compared with 147 in 2014 and 167 in 2013.

Epidemiology
In May 2015, Zika virus was first confirmed as the cause of an outbreak of a dengue-like disease in northern and eastern Brazil. In the district of Camaçari and the neighboring city Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, a previously unknown disease affecting patients with flu-like symptoms followed by rash and arthralgia, was shown to be caused by Zika virus by researchers from the Federal University of Bahia using RT-PCR technique. The spread followed a pattern similar to an outbreak of Chikungunya virus in the same region, another disease previously unknown to the local population.