Editorial: Zika Virus Research

1 Departamento de Investigación y Desarrollo (I + D), Laboratorios Lokímica, Valencia, Spain, 2 Department of Biotechnology, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain, 3 Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, 4 Grupo de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Universidad de La Salle, Bogota, Colombia, 5 Department of Community Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil, 6 College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia, 7 Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Western Australia Department of Health, Perth, WA, Australia, 8 Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 9 Instituto D’Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Zika Virus Research
The considerable number of viral infectious disease threats that have emerged, since the beginning of the twenty-first century has shown the need to dispose global and coordinated responses to fight properly and efficiently against them.  (1). The latest emerging and devastating threat was Zika virus, an arbovirus that provoked more than 580,000 autochthonous suspected disease cases in the Americas between 2015 and 2018 (2). Most notably, Zika caused social and medical alarm due to the evidence of a causal link between Zika virus and several congenital injuries, like microcephaly, as well as due to its association with neurological disorders, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults (3). In the framework of this global response and multistrategic approach, the purpose of this research topic was to provide a platform for the publication of updated information and high-quality research papers about control strategies, encompassing virological, entomological, and epidemiological data, in order to reach the triad of protagonists of transmission cycles (virus, mosquitoes, and humans). We received 30 manuscripts, of which 23 were accepted for publication after rigorous peer review processes between March 22, 2016 and October 6, 2017.
Baraka and Kweka and Vythilingam et al. highlight the need to focus the Zika problem not only in the Americas but also to pay attention to what could happen in Sub-Saharan Africa (original region of the virus) and Southeast Asia (where the two most important vectors are well distributed). Recently, some of these concerns have become reality, especially in Southeast Asia where several countries have reported autochthonous cases in the past months (4).
As occurs with the rest of arthropod-borne diseases, detailed knowledge of the biology, behavior, and genetic plasticity of vectors are essential to predict potential outbreaks. Muñoz et al. provided an interesting research regarding the predictability of the conditions conducive to Zika epidemics based on a reproduction number model of the two most important disease vectors, namely Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, that can be concurrent in disease risk areas. According to this study, "conditions for the occurrence of the Zika epidemic at the beginning of 2015 could have been successfully predicted at least 1 month in advance for several Zika hotspots, and in particular for Northeast Brazil: the heart of the epidemic. " Similarly, Nejati et al. used several climatic and topographic data to model and forecast which areas may be most prone to the establishment of Ae. albopictus in Iran. This interesting investigation is supposed to be the first study in the country to determine the regional probability for the establishment of this invasive mosquito of major concern for public health. Zika virus-vector interactions were explored by Anglero-Rodriguez et al. who found several differences in the tropism of Zika virus in two different Ae. aegypti strains and compared how Zika and dengue viruses affect the transcriptome of the vector. Moreover, Hunter also emphasizes the importance of not limiting Zika problems to Ae. aegypti presence, since too much information is available in relation to other susceptible mosquitoes, although it is clear that more infectivity studies are needed.
Prevention and control strategies have also been deeply discussed in the topic. One of the most applied examples has been given by Millet et al. that exposed the epidemiological and entomological surveillance program against imported Zika cases in the city of Barcelona (Spain). Rather et al. also reviewed the results of preventive campaigns conducted in different parts of the world, which were based on different approaches like, for instance, avoiding unnecessary travel to infected areas and mosquito bites. They argue that these and other proactive measures could "be employed to effectively combat the epidemic transmission of the Zika virus. We want to thank all the authors and reviewers for their valuable contributions to this research topic, and we hope that this collection of reviews, commentaries, and original articles will be helpful for clinicians, researchers, and students seeking for information about Zika virus.

aUtHor CoNtriBUtioNS
Main text has been redacted by RB-M. All authors revised and approved the Editorial.