CRITICAL REVIEW IN PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES eISSN 2319-1082 Volume 5, Issue 1, 2016 www.earthjournals.org 1 Review Article Zika virus: An informative note Sunita Kumari 1 , Sandeep Kumar 2 *, Isha Dhamija* 1 Department of Clinical Research, Pharma Instinct. Sector 9D, Chandigarh 2 Department of Biotechnology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab (144011), INDIA Corresponding author: Dr. Isha Dhamija ABSTRACT Recently Zika outbreak in Brazil highlighted itself to World Health Organization (WHO) and has been declared international emergency to public health. In this view, it has become mandatory to have one spot pool of knowledge i.e. its prevalence along with symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, prevention and other important data. Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging globally mosquito (Aedes) -borne pathogen belonging to family Flaviviridae and genus Flavivirus. It was first isolated in 1947 in Uganda. Zika cases were reported in Africa, Asia and predominantly in Pacific. Its symptoms demonstrate dengue like syndrome. Transmission of ZIKV occurs through infected mosquito bite, sexual intercourse, infected blood transfusion and mother to fetus. Zika symptoms include rash, myalgia, arthralgia, headache, fever, and edema. ZIKV infection during pregnancy cause congenital brain damage and microcephaly in new born. Mosquitoes and monkeys are main vectors of ZIKV. Zika diagnosis is mainly done by molecular techniques (RT-PCR)) and serological tests (ELISA or immuno-fluorescence). No treatment is available till now for ZIKV. Prevention strategies include insect repellant and eradication of mosquito vector. We, the authors feel this document as a preliminary informative source in overall related directions. Keywords: Zika virus, RT-PCR, ELISA, World Health Organization INTRODUCTION Among many public health alerts, the global spread of ZIKV is of concern and alarm. Zika virus (ZIKV) is a globally emerging mosquito-borne pathogen belonging to family Flaviviridae and genus Flavivirus. The virus was first isolated in 1947 and described in 1952. It was isolated from a febrile sentinel rhesus monkey [1]. In 1948, ZIKV was also isolated from a pool of Aedes africanus mosquitoes from the Zika forest in Uganda during yellow fever study [2, 3]. Until 2007 only a small number of cases had been described in Africa and Asia. After that spread of ZIKV was observed in French Polynesia in October 2013. Approximately 29,000 people suspected for ZIKV were given medical help. The affected areas in the Pacific have expanded to include the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, and Easter Island [4, 5]. Virus transmission occurs via mosquito vectors from the Aedes genus of the Culicidae family in a sylvatic cycle involving nonhuman primates [6], although antibodies have also been detected in a number of other mammals i.e. water, buffalo, elephants, zebras etc [4]. However, in areas where there are no nonhuman primates, humans are the primary amplification hosts [7]. Virus infection many a times proved threat for the society. Previously Ebola virus emerged as a menace for population of West Africa, which has global consequences through risk of imported infections and mishandling for biological terrorism [8]. Likewise there are many diseases such as sarcoidosis [9], chikungunya [10], dengue, swine flu which established themselves as havoc for the society.