Local Zika virus transmission was found in another Miami neighborhood and the World Health Organization warned about the spread of Zika in Asia, while basic research into the mechanisms of the virus continued.
On Thursday evening, the CDC issued a travel advisory for about an additional area of Miami-Dade County -- about one square mile near Miami's "Little Haiti" neighborhood. The organization they have identified evidence of infection in three residents and two people who either work in or visited the area. Pregnant women are advised to avoid all nonessential travel to this area of Miami at this time, and anyone living in or traveling to this area on or after August 26 should be aware of the risk of local Zika transmission.
Meanwhile, the WHO warned of the potential for a dramatic risk in Zika cases in Asia-Pacific countries. The Western Pacific region is the second most affected Zika region in the world, researchers said.
Zika May Present Differently in Transplant Recipients
Brazilian researchers explored how patients with organ transplants may not present with typical symptoms of Zika virus. Writing in American Journal of Transplantation, they studied two kidney transplant recipients and two liver transplant recipients, who tested positive for Zika. The researchers noted how these patients presented without the traditional Zika symptoms (rash, conjunctivitis or neurological symptoms), and instead exhibited abnormal graft function, low platelet count, thrombocytopenia, and bacterial superinfection. All were hospitalized with infection, but all four survived.
New Drug Target ID'd
Genetic work on Zika virus continued, as Polish researchers identified a key enzyme in Zika that may lead to the development of an antiviral to combat the virus. Understanding how this serine protease NS3 (an enzyme that helps facilitate peptide bonds in proteins) bind to targets may lead to the development of inhibitors that could help treat Zika. This enzyme has been used in therapies for hepatitis C, a close "cousin" of Zika, researchers wrote in FEBS Letters.
Zika Semen Isolate Sequenced
Finally, researchers from the U.K. reported in Genome Announcements (an American Society for Microbiology publication) that they have sequenced the complete genome of a Zika isolate from human semen. It came from a man 13 days post infection, who tested positive for Zika RNA with a high copy number. Previously, the longest genomic sequence of Zika virus from semen was no greater than 300 bases long. This new one totaled more than 10,000 bases.