🔬 ZIKA VIRUS

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus of global health concern, notably due to its association with developmental disorders.

In this study, we characterized the contemporary West African ZIKV strain GUINEA-18. Compared with the historical MR766 strain, GUINEA-18 showed lower replication, reduced cytotoxicity and weaker innate immune activation. Chimeric virus experiments highlighted a contribution of the NS1–NS4B region, particularly NS4B, to its replication properties.

These findings provide new insights into the biological properties of contemporary African ZIKV strains.

👏 We thank all collaborators involved in this work.