PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (May 2020)

Emergence of Zika virus infection in China.

  • Chuan-Min Zhou,
  • Jian-Wei Liu,
  • Rui Qi,
  • Li-Zhu Fang,
  • Xiang-Rong Qin,
  • Hui-Ju Han,
  • Rong-Can Mo,
  • Hao Yu,
  • Yong-Jun Jiao,
  • Jian-Yan Lin,
  • Xue-Jie Yu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008300
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 5
p. e0008300

Abstract

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Currently, Zika virus (ZIKV) is spreading across the world and no ZIKV infection cases have ever been reported in China. Here, we aimed to determine whether ZIKV infection exists in China. Blood samples of 273 healthy individuals were collected from Nanning City, Guangxi Province, China in March 2019. We found that 9.5% (26/273) and 1.8% (5/273) of healthy persons were positive to ZIKV total antibody (IgG and/or IgM) IgM antibody, respectively. All ZIKV positive plasma samples were negative to Dengue virus and West Nile virus. Among the ZIKV antibody positive plasma samples, 65.4% (17/26) exhibited neutralizing activity to ZIKV. Followed up studies showed that none had clinical symptoms of ZIKV infection and oversea experience. Together, our study indicates that endemic ZIKV infections emerge in China, which not only suggested that ZIKV posed a potential threat to public health in China, but also expand the ZIKV epidemic areas in East and Southeast Asia.