Madison Shelburg

Biology Lab - Zika Virus

Nicole Pearson

March 7, 2017
 The Zika Virus

The Zika virus is known as the mosquito-borne illness responsible for an explosive

ongoing outbreak of febrile illness across the Americas. Before we were introduced to Zika, it

was thought to cause only mild flu like illness. But based on recent events, weve come to find

that it can be farther more harmful and dangerous than the flu. Zika virus belongs to the

Flaviviridae family, this family includes dengue, yellow fever, encephalitis (a condition) all

which are mosquito borne illnesses. The virus gets its name from the Zika forest in Uganda,

Africa. The reason why Zika is considered a virus is due to the fact that it can only reproduce

within the living cells of a host. This virus is spread through mosquitos and sexual contact. As

stated previously this virus is carried through insects, animals and more specifically living

organisms. The issue with Zika is the harmful defects it causes to the infected. Zika has been

around for quite sometime but only as of 2016 has it become the focus of scientific study due to

the recent outbreaks and the World Health Organization declaring a public health emergency of

international concern. Clearly this virus is a topic of interest because the complications that the

infected persons are becoming more and more life threatening. One hypothesis of this

experiment is that Zika is known to have two lineages Asian and African it is unknown whether

genetic differences between the African and Asian lineages play a role in the scope and severity

of current outbreaks, however since we are unable to study humans like test subjects it makes

this first hypothesis very difficult to prove. The second hypothesis is that age plays a significant

role in how dangerous the virus can be. As of today, there is no vaccine or specific treatment.

Instead, the focus is on relieving symptoms that includes rest, rehydration, and acetaminophen

for fever and pain.

 Researchers studied genetic composition, behavioral patterns, the lethality in mice with

different strains of the virus. They found Zika genome comprises a single stranded, positive

11-KB RNA that contains structural and non-structural in 7 genes. (Article) Historically

scientists have used animals to conduct experiments on how the Zika virus attacks the body. In

this experiment they categorized 3 different age groups of mice: 3 weeks old, 5 weeks old and 11

weeks old. The controlled variable in the experiment was that all mice were injected with an

amplified version of the Zika virus. They were monitored daily for signs of illness, weight

change and mortality rates. All age groups showed signs of illness and failed to gain weight for

the first four days. After day five they began to lose weight until the illness succumbed.

However, the mice of 3 weeks old showed severe disease including tremors, lethargy, anorexia

and eventually death. 50% of the 5 week old group died, and no 11 week old mice died.

Scientists concluded that Zika virus is age dependent seeing as all older mice did not succumb to

infection and/or showed little signs of illness. Looking at recent outbreaks, it is known that Zika

causes abnormalities in infants and children; in some cases leading to death. This experiment

provides a positive outlook on the future because we can test vaccines effectively in the mice to

find out when is the best time for children to be vaccinated to maximize their bodys efforts to

fight the virus. There is hope for a vaccine in the future due to the Chikungunya virus which is

very similar to Zika.

In conclusion, the experiment overall provides hope for the future in obtaining a vaccine.

Unfortunately this method does not prevent fetuss to be born with no complications from the

virus due to the fact that vaccines can only be given to a human that has been out of the womb
for some time. The experiment Refuted the first hypothesis being that there is a correlation to

different ethnicities when it comes to the level of virulence of the virus. This hypothesis cant be

proven amongst humans because of the code of ethics. The second hypothesis supports the

scientists educated guess that younger mice would be more at risk. These experiments can help

guide us in the future to find the most beneficial time to vaccinate infants to protect them from

the virus. In the mice the best time presented itself at seven weeks, when scientists injected the

Chikungunya vaccine. The best way to prevent deaths and birth defects is to educate people on

safe sex in countries where the virus is present. The harm that Zika causes to humankind is

extreme birth defects and fevers which is all we have knowledge of at this time. Fevers in

developing countries have proven to be dangerous and sometimes fatal due to the lack of

medicine and resources to treat symptoms of fevers. To better this experiment scientists could

include a wider variety of species to see if results are consistent across species. Another way to

improve the experiment would be to test if the vaccine (when discovered) would be more

effective if injected prior to the virus. The future for a vaccine is promising however there hasnt

been much hope for a cure.

 Works Cited

1. Rossi, S. L., Tesh, R. B., Azar, S. R., Muruato, A. E., Hanley, K. A., Auguste, A. J., . . .

Weaver, S. C. (2016). Characterization of a Novel Murine Model to Study Zika Virus.

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 94(6), 1362-1369.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0111