The Zika fever is a viral disease caused by Zika virus, a flavivirus such as dengue and yellow fever and is also transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. Currently the virus has caused outbreaks in some countries in South and Central America with high impact in the northeast of Brazil, particularly due to the recent association with microcephaly in babies. It has been detected in 14 Brazilian states: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraná, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima and São Paulo. In early November 2015, health authorities in Cape Verde have confirmed the first outbreak of the virus in the country.
As in Dengue, disease prevention involves the adoption of measures to avoid mosquito bites, such as applying repellent and use of appropriate clothing. In the housing the doors and windows must remain closed and the air conditioning on and should be used a mosquito net to sleep.
Symptoms occur from about three to twelve days after the mosquito bite and may include: low-grade fever, rash, headache, arthralgia, myalgia, asthenia and not purulent conjunctivitis. They can last from two to seven days and can not manifest in all infected people.