Prime News, International (Washington), April 14: — US researchers have found that the Zika virus can mutate to become more infectious — and possibly compromise pre-existing immunity. The findings are in line with a warning issued by the World Health Organization earlier this month. The World Health Organization has warned that the next pandemic could be caused by insect-borne pathogens, including Zika and dengue fever. Researchers from the La Jolla Institute of Immunology (LJI) in the United States have identified a new mutation called the NS2B I39V/I39T mutation.
It was found to increase the ability of the virus to reproduce in mice and mosquitoes. This Zika variant also showed increased proliferation in human cells. “The world should be alert to the emergence of this type of Zika virus,” said Professor Sujan Shrestha of the La Jolla Institute of Immunology (LJI) in the US, who has shown how the Zika virus evolves naturally when it encounters more hosts.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus caused a global medical emergency in 2016, as thousands of babies were born with birth defects such as microcephaly after their mothers became infected during pregnancy. In the study, published in the journal Cell Reports, the team recreated an infection cycle that repeatedly moved back and forth between mosquito and mouse cells.
Researchers have found that it is relatively easy for the Zika virus to acquire the one amino acid change that allows the virus to make more copies of itself – and helps the infection survive more easily.
“This single mutation is sufficient to increase the virulence of the Zika virus,” said Jose Angel Regla Nava, professor at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. (MR, input: agency).
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