Zika Virus Associated with Microcephaly

Zika virus is an emerging infectious disease that is spreading rapidly through the Americas. A major concern is the association with birth defects, especially microcephaly. This report shows evidence of Zika virus in the fetal brain. ZIKV, an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus, was initially isolated from a rhesus monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda in 1947. 1 It is transmitted by various species of aedes mosquitoes. After the first human ZIKV infection, sporadic cases were reported in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. 2 ZIKV was responsible for the outbreak in Yap Island of Micronesia in 2007 and for major epidemics in French Polynesia, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, and Easter Island in 2013 and 2014. 3 , 4 In 2015, there was a dramatic increase in reports of ZIKV infection in the Americas. Brazil is the most affected country, with . . .