Although the virus has been known for some decades, this is a completely new situation in terms of international public health and also for the international scientific community. Until 2014, there were records of sporadic spread of the Zika virus in Africa, Asia, and Oceania. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), since last year, in addition to Brazil, 24 other countries and territories of the Americas have been affected by the Zika virus.
The disease caused by this virus (which is transmitted by the same vector that transmits dengue and chikungunya- the Aedes aegypti) was swiftly characterised as an epidemic by the Brazilian public authorities. There is no scientific proof regarding the transmission of the disease other than by infected mosquito bite. People who present symptoms most commonly have a fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain. In general, these symptoms last for 2-7 days after the contamination. At the end of 2015, for the first time, the Brazilian authorities proved a possible association between the contamination of women by Zika virus during pregnancy and the birth of babies with microcephaly, a serious congenital condition in which the brain does not develop properly.
