n 1947, a study of yellow fever yielded the first isolation of a newvirus, from the blood of a sentinel rhesus macaque that had been placed in theZika Forest of Uganda.1 Zika virus remained in relative obscurity for nearly 70
years; then, within the span of just 1 year, Zika virus was introduced into Brazil
from the Pacific Islands and spread rapidly throughout the Americas.2 It became
the first major infectious disease linked to human birth defects to be discovered
in more than half a century and created such global alarm that the World Health
Organization (WHO) would declare a Public Health Emergency of International
Concern.3 This review describes the current understanding of the epidemiology,
transmission, clinical characteristics, and diagnosis of Zika virus infection, as well
as the future outlook with regard to this disease.