Zika virus, a once-overlooked single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA)
virus that causes a mosquito-borne viral disease, is causing a major
ongoing pandemic worldwide. On 1 February 2016, the World Health
Organization declared Zika virus-associated clusters of microcephaly
and related neurological disorders a ‘Public Health Emergency of
International Concern’.
1 Why has a largely ignored virus, which
normally causes only mild symptoms, reemerged with a different
pathophysiology, much like an unpredicted storm?