Zika virus was first discovered after being isolated from a rhesus monkey found in Uganda's Zika Forest. The virus has since been spread from Africa into Asia, and onto the Pacific Islands, before eventually reaching South America. Zika virus is a single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family that is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. 

The most common symptoms of Zika virus infection are mild fever and skin rash, usually accompanied by conjunctivitis, muscle or joint pain, and general malaise that begins 2-7 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. Although there have been local transmission of Zika virus in the past, recently a large Zika virus outbreak in Brazil has caught world’s attention because for the first time it has linked Zika virus infection to microcephaly through transmission in utero.

 Currently there is no treatment option or vaccine available for Zika virus infection. Diagnosis relies on clinical presentation, recent travel/activities, and lab testing. RT-PCR for the detection of viral RNA during acute phase, and serological testing for detecting Zika-specific antibodies during convalescent phase are the laboratory assays currently employed. The limitation of current laboratory tests present a great challenge to conquer the Zika epidemic because of their specificity, sensitivity, or the prolonged turnaround time.

 To facilitate developing new diagnostic tools and vaccine against Zika virus infection, Immune Tech has geared up our R&D for Zika virus related products. Currently we have the following recombinant proteins available: 

NS1 (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from 293 mammalian cells, Cat. # IT-006-0063p; 

NS1 (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat. # IT-006-0063Ep; 

Envelope Protein (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat. # IT-006-0064Ep .

In addition, mouse monoclonal antibodies against above-mentioned Zika proteins are in development and will be available shortly. Please contact us for any further information. 

近期寨卡病毒在巴西大规模的爆发, 引起了全世界的关注。由于许多怀孕妇女在感染寨卡病毒后，其新生儿出现小头畸形，所以专家第一次将寨卡病毒与新生儿小头畸形联系起来。 

寨卡病毒最早在乌干达寨卡丛林的猕恒河猴中被确认，后从非洲一路扩散到亚洲、太平洋岛国最后到达南美洲。寨卡病毒属于黄病毒科，属单股正链RNA病毒，其可通过伊蚊叮咬传播，这种蚊子还会传播登革热病毒和基孔肯亚病毒。 

寨卡病毒感染者一般在伊蚊叮咬后的2-7天表现出如发热、斑丘疹、结膜炎、肌肉痛、关节痛和全身乏力等较温和的临床症状。寨卡病毒以前只在发源地传播，近期却在巴西大规模的爆发。 

目前世界上没有特效药物和疫苗可以用于治疗和预防寨卡热。临床诊断也只是根据患者的临床症状、近期旅行行程，辅以实验室检测结果来进行确诊。目前实验室常用检测方法有2种，急性发病期使用RT-PCR检测方法，检测寨卡病毒RNA；恢复期使用血清学检测方法，检测寨卡病毒特异性抗体。由于目前实验室检测方法在特异性、敏感性、长期周转时间上的局限性，导致在攻克寨卡流行病时面临一个很大的挑战。 

为帮助寨卡病毒新型诊断方法和疫苗的发展，Immune Tech已研发出寨卡病毒相关产品，可用于科研和诊断领域。目前我们已经获得下列重组蛋白： 

NS1（寨卡病毒，巴西）经293哺乳细胞表达，货号Cat. # IT-006-0063p； 

NS1（寨卡病毒，巴西）经大肠杆菌表达，货号Cat. # IT-006-0063Ep；

Envelope Protein（寨卡病毒，巴西）经大肠杆菌表达，货号Cat. # IT-006-0064Ep 。

另外，抗上述寨卡病毒重组蛋白的鼠单克隆抗体也正在研发中。若要获得更多寨卡病毒相关产品信息请与我们联系。