THE ongoing Zika outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries, is compelling the international community to step up efforts to stop the virus propagation and better understand its effects in the human organism.
The virus itself is not unfamiliar to mankind. It was first isolated in 1947 in Uganda and since then it has been found in Africa, tropical Asia and Oceania. Nor is its vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also the infamous transmitter of dengue and chikungunya. Yet this is a completely new situation in terms of international public health and for the global scientific community.
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