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What is the Zika virus?

Francis Heber Gonzalez's picture

By Natalia Rodríguez Jockovich.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that is known to circulate in tropical climates and has caused disease outbreaks in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and most recently in the Americas. The symptoms of Zika are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya, diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit Zika, and usually include low fever or rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, appearing a few days after a person has been infected by an infected mosquito or after sexual intercourse with an infected person. Zika is generally a mild disease and most people with the virus will not even experience symptoms.

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