Current views on Zika virus vaccine development

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, which was identified in 1947 in the Zika Forest of Uganda. The virus has emerged in the recent years and caused large human outbreaks in the Pacific area (Yap Island in 2007; French Polynesia in 2013 to 2014) and in the Americas (since late 2014). As of 8 June 2017, according to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 48 countries in South America, Central America, and Caribbean reported ZIKV outbreaks, with a total of 212,545 confirmed cases of infection and 565,749 suspected cases. In addition, in 2016, Florida and Texas (USA) observed 225 autochthonous cases of ZIKV infection. The incidence was estimated as about 200 cases/100,000 population in countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, where large and intense epidemic waves were registered during the first half of 2016. Although ZIKV transmission has significantly decreased in the region during the second half of 2016, most of the countries are still reporting cases of infection. Outsides the Americas, areas of ongoing intense transmission include countries in Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines), Africa (Angola), and the South Pacific region (American Samoa).