During ZIKV the outbreak in Brazil it was observed an increase of almost 20 times the number of reported
cases of microcephaly in newborn babies. There is no vaccine or approved drug available for the
treatment and prevention of infections by this virus. EGCG, a polyphenol present in green tea has been
shown to have an antiviral activity for many viruses. In view of the need for the development of a drug
against a Brazilian strain of ZIKV, we assessed the effect of EGCG on ZIKV entry in Vero E6 cells. The drug
was capable of inhibiting the virus entry by at least 1-log (490%) at higher concentrations (4100 μM).
The pre-treatment of cells with EGCG did not show any effect on virus attachment. This is the first study
to demonstrate the effect of EGCG on ZIKV indicating that this drug might be possibility to be used for
prevention of Zika virus infections.