User:Jtamad/draft Zika outbreak

Since April 2015, a large, ongoing outbreak of Zika fever has occurred in Brazil. In the district of Camaçari and the neighboring city Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, a previously unknown disease affecting around 500 patients with flu-like symptoms followed by rash and arthralgia was proven to be caused by Zika virus by researchers from the Federal University of Bahia using RT-PCR technique. 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 spread followed a similar pattern to an outbreak of Chikungunya virus in the same region, another disease previously unknown to the local population. 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. 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. 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.