Zika virus, Microcephaly - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Zika

Explanation:
US researchers have located antibodies in lab mice to prevent infection with the mosquito borne Zika virus in what is a crucial step towards vaccine development.

• Research shows 6 antibodies interact with the virus and they are specific enough to Zika virus.
• Some of the antibodies have been able to neutralise Asian, African and American strains of Zika Virus to some degree.
• Further research should focus on finding ways to vaccinate pregnant women.
• Antibodies will have to be adapted and vaccine trials conducted on primates before they can be tested on people.

ANSWER: Peru

Explanation:
The Peru government on July 13, 2016 has declared Zika health emergency across the northern half of the nation.

• Emergency was declared after 102 people were infected by the virus, 34 of which are pregnant women.
• States under emergency include Amazonas, Cajamarca, Huanuco, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto, Piura, San Martin, Tumbes, Ucayali and Lima.
• Zika is from the Ugandan forest where the virus originated and named after it.
• It was declared a public health emergency by WHO on February 1, 2016

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
Number of missing cases of microcephaly epidemic country in Zika prone countries has raised questions about the assumed link between the two

• Epidemic of microcephaly- a birth defect where baby’s heads become smaller- has raised serious questions about the assumed link with Zika virus
• Prenatal Zika virus infection has been linked to both birth outcomes and adverse pregnancy namely brain anomalies such as microcephaly
• A new study in Colombia found total number of pregnancies with Zika infection is larger with 11,944 cases of symptoms in clinical settings yet no microcephaly occurred in these pregnancies
• An alternative case of microcephaly in Brazil could be pesticide pyriproxyfen, which is cross-reactive with retinoic acid and is being used in drinking water, the researchers said

ANSWER: 1947

Explanation:
Japanese scientists have developed a new tool to predict Zika virus importation and local transmission across the globe. Countries well connected to Brazil where the case is widespread carry more risk

• However, subtropical and tropical countries with a history of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases have the greatest risk of the virus spreading once it arrives in the country. This means many nations in South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, face the highest risk of infection and should take measures to prevent mosquito bites, researchers said.
• France, southern parts of China and the UAE also fall into this category having experienced previous outbreaks.
• The Zika virus was first found in Uganda in 1947, and then detected in 39 countries around the world, including the US, India and Japan, researchers said.

ANSWER: Aedis aegypti

Explanation:
In a pioneering effort, a team of researchers has genetically engineered a clone of the Zika virus strain . According to them, cloning the virus can help in the development of counter-measures and exploring how or whether the Zika virus has evolved to spread more quickly and cause more severe diseases in people.

• The new clone is also a critical step in developing a vaccine and antiviral drug against Zika
• In the study, the team first individually cloned five genome fragments and then assembled them together to form the Zika virus clone.
• The researchers then used the Zika mouse model to demonstrate that the cloned virus infected

ANSWER: Zika

Explanation:
Mosquito borne Zika virus causes birth defects including a syndrome where babies are born with exceptionally small heads called microcephaly. Scientists at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have found Zika virus is the cause of microcephaly and other severe detail brain defects.

• Study marks a turning point in the Zika virus because till now there was no single piece of evidence that offered conclusive proof
• Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947
• Symptoms have been mild including fever, joint pain and rashes.
• Zika was first identified in Brazil in early 2015; the country confirmed 907 cases of microcephaly.

ANSWER: Zika Virus

Explanation:
This creates insights essential for the development of effective antivirus treatments and vaccines for the disease.

Researchers from Purdue University in the US have studied a strain of the virus isolated from a patient infected at the time of the French Polynesia epidemic and assessed the structure of the virus.

Structure details vital difference within a key protein explaining why Zika attacks nerve cells infected, while others viruses in the same family do not. Structure of the virus provides a map showing potential regions of the virus targeted by therapeutic treatment for creating an effective vaccine to enhance the ability to diagnose and distinguish Zika from other related viruses.

Lead researcher Richard Kuhn from Purdue University found the structure to be very akin to that of other flaviruses including dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis not to mention tick borne encephalitic viruses, with RNA genome surrounded by lipid or fatty membrane inside an icosahedral protein shell.

• Zika is different from other flavi-viruses as it invades the nervous system of the developing foetus
• Zika is a mosquito borne disease reported in 33 countries.
• Zika has been associated with a birth defect known as microcephaly causing brain damage and a small head in babies borne to mothers infected at the time of pregnancy.

ANSWER: Acute Myelitis

Explanation:
In a first, a 15 year old girl has been infected with Zika virus leading to paralysis causing acute myelitis. This marks the first case of acute myelitis or inflammation of the spinal cord in association with Zika virus according to a research team from Pointe-a-Pitre university hospital and University of Antilles in French West Indies. Young patient in the acute phase of the Zika virus infection presented motor deficiency in 4 limbs and was associated with intense pain and acute urinary retention. Presence of the virus was confirmed in cerebrospinal fluid, urine and blood according to researchers.