Absence of Zika virus in abortion and placental tissue in a German cohort

In this study, we verified the hypothesis that the Zika virus (ZIKV) so far solely occurs as an imported zoonosis and is not yet circulating in a cohort in Germany. We have tested tissue specimens from abortions and placentas collected from 300 patients treated at the gynecology department of our hospital. Not surprisingly, although control specimens tested positive for ZIKV by reverse transcription-PCR, none of the tissue specimens contained viral RNA, thus supporting the hypothesis that ZIKV spread is limited to tropical and subtropical areas.
Source: Reviews in Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Tags: Virology Source Type: research