By cooperation with Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, scientists from WIV have isolated one Zika virus strain, which will assist scientists study the transmission pattern of the virus while provide a foundation for the invention of reagent and vaccine.

The strain was isolated from blood and urine samples from patients by the research group of flavivirus infection and prevention led by Prof. Bo Zhang. Through the communications by Mr. Gengfu Xiao, the Deputy Secretary of Party Committee in WIV, the research group obtained the last blood and urine samples (50 microliters) from Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. Bycountering the limited blood and urine samples, the research group isolated the virus successfully through the inoculation of mosquito cells and repeated passage for 3 times.

With the confirmed imported Zika virus cases and the weather beginning to warm up across the country, China is on high alert. Zika virus disease is caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.