Funding available for the SPSAS in Arbovirology in Brazil

15th International Dengue Course and ZIKAlliance WP1 meeting to be held in Cuba next August

Substrate selectivity of Dengue and Zika virus NS5 polymerase towards 2'-modified nucleotide analogues

In addition to representing the first ZIKV full-length NS5 activity report at the molecular level, this study should help the design of pan-flavivirus drugs aiming at the control of many Flavivirus members of this large family of emerging arboviruses, as well as understand the basis of re-purposing drugs against emerging viral diseases.

Zika Virus Methyltransferase: Structure and Functions for Drug Design Perspectives

The results outlined in the article contribute to a better understanding of the ZIKVMTase, a central player in viral replication and host innate immune response, and lay the basis for the development of potential antiviral drugs.

Real-Time Assessment of Health-Care Requirements During the Zika Virus Epidemic in Martinique

This study showcases the contribution of modeling to inform local health-care planning during an outbreak. Timely studies that estimate the proportion of infected persons that seek care are needed to improve the predictive power of such approaches.

Aedes aegypti Control Through Modernized, Integrated Vector Management

Researchers demonstrate that strategically combining the suppression methods with Wolbachia can generate a sustained control while mitigating the risks of inadvertent exacerbation of the wild mosquito population.

Health research capacity development in low and middle income countries: reality or rhetoric?

There has been steady progress in LMIC health research capacity, but major barriers to research persist and more empirical evidence on development strategies is required.

Study of volunteer blood donors in Martinique provides new information about Zika virus infection

This pioneering study provides a precise follow-up of incident cases and seroprevalence in blood donors, and it also provides important insights into the management of blood donations during ZIKV outbreaks and into the natural history of ZIKV infection in adults. It suggests that the study of blood donors during outbreaks of emerging pathogens has become a key element of epidemiological surveillance.

Zika virus causes supernumerary foci with centriolar proteins and impaired spindle positioning

The article concludes that infection with Flaviviridae can increase centrosome numbers and impair spindle positioning, thus potentially contributing to microcephaly in the case of Zika.

Axl Mediates ZIKA Virus Entry in Human Glial Cells and Modulates Innate Immune Responses

A study performed by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) team of Dr Ali Amara (U944, Paris, France) and published in Cell Reports sheds new light on the mechanisms allowing ZIKV to infect cells within the human nervous system. Amara et al. showed that the protein Axl is expressed in a number of brain glial cells and that the entry of ZIKV into these cells requires another protein, Gas6, to act as a bridge between the ZIKV particles and the glial cells.

African and Asian Zika virus strains differentially induce early antiviral responses in primary human astrocytes

This study describes for the first time the specific antiviral gene expression in infected primary human astrocytes, the major glial cells within the central nervous system.

Zika virus in asymptomatic blood donors in Martinique

This pioneering study suggests that the study of blood donors during outbreaks of emerging pathogens has become a key element of epidemiological surveillance.

Axl Mediates ZIKA Virus Entry in Human Glial Cells and Modulates Innate Immune Responses

A study performed by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) team of Dr Ali Amara (U944, Paris, France) and published in Cell Reports sheds new light on the mechanisms allowing ZIKV to infect cells within the human nervous system. Amara et al. showed that the protein Axl is expressed in a number of brain glial cells and that the entry of ZIKV into these cells requires another protein, Gas6, to act as a bridge between the ZIKV particles and the glial cells.

How to create and interpret epidemic curves

Epidemic curves are an important component of the public health and global health toolbox. Learn more about creating and interpretting them.

Simple reverse genetics systems for Asian and African Zika viruses

By using the bacterium-free ‘Infectious Subgenomic Amplicons’ (ISA) method, this study provides the scientific community with two simple and performing reverse genetics systems for ZIKV.

ZIKAlliance Kick-off Meeting in Brazil

Hosted by University Sao Paulo Medical School at the Centro de Convenções Rebouças ZIKAlliance, the multinational and multidisciplinary consortium coordinated by Inserm, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and  created in response to a Horizon 2020 funding call by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Research and Innovation, has officially started its activities with the kick-off meeting held in Brazil over the 4^th and 5^th December 2016.

Global Health Research in an Unequal World: Ethics Case Studies from Africa

This book is a collection of fictionalised case studies of everyday ethical dilemmas and challenges, encountered in the process of conducting global health research in places where the effects of global, political and economic inequality are particularly evident. 

Global research platforms receive €30M to combat Zika

Global research platforms receive €30M to combat Zika   Oxford --21 October 2016, ISARIC members are part of two successful bids to the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme that will set up multinational and multi-disciplinary research consortia to combat Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and build pandemic preparedness in Latin America and the Caribbean over the next 3 to 5 years, the European Commission announced today.

Zika and Other Emerging Viruses: Aiming at the Right Target

The article argues that the off-label use of drugs that may protect against Zika virus-induced brain damage has to be balanced with their risk during pregnancy.

How Did Zika Virus Emerge in the Pacific Islands and Latin America?

Based on comparative ZIKV complete genome phylogenetic analyses and temporal estimates, the authors identify amino acid substitutions that may be associated with increased viral epidemicity, CZVS, and GBS. Reverse genetics, vector competence, and seroepidemiological studies will test the hypothesis that these amino acid substitutions are determinants of epidemic and neurotropic ZIKV emergence.