Zika Virus Didn't Disappear in India

Researchers published a study in Frontiers in Microbiology in June 2022 concerning the Zika virus (ZIKV silently spreading in various countries.

India had an outbreak of Zika in late 2021 that essentially went unreported.

ZIKV outbreaks were reported in Kerala (May–July), Maharashtra (July), and Uttar Pradesh (October) states of India (Yadav et al., 2022).

Since these outbreaks were reported from distant locations and over six months, these researchers conducted a retrospective screening of dengue and chikungunya-negative clinical samples from May to October 2021 to understand the extent of the spread of ZIKV in India.

In this article, they described the results and conclusions of this retrospective analysis, which revealed the circulation of ZIKV in Delhi, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Telangana states of India in 2021 in addition to Kerala, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

And co-infections with Zika, dengue, and chikungunya were another concern in many places in India.

The retrospective surveillance for ZIKV demonstrates the silent spread of this virus to almost all parts of India, with a predominance of the more recent 2018 Rajasthan ZIKV strain.

These results indicated the need for continuous and enhanced surveillance for ZIKV along with DENV and CHIKV, emphasizing ante-natal ZIKV screening.

It is also critical to strengthen linkages of ZIKV surveillance sites with the existing newborn congenital disability screening sites in the country to understand the spectrum of ZVD in babies born to ZIKV-infected mothers.

As of October 27, 2022, the U.S. FDA has not approved a Zika-prevention vaccine.