Zika virus was first discovered after being isolated from a rhesus monkey found in Uganda’s Zika Forest. The virus has since been spread from Africa into Asia, and onto the Pacific Islands, before eventually reaching South America. Zika virus is a single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family that is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.
The most common symptoms of Zika virus infection are mild fever and skin rash, usually accompanied by conjunctivitis, muscle or joint pain, and general malaise that begins 2-7 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. Although there have been local transmission of Zika virus in the past, recently a large Zika virus outbreak in Brazil has caught world’s attention because for the first time it has linked Zika virus infection to microcephaly through transmission in utero.
Currently there is no treatment option or vaccine available for Zika virus infection. Diagnosis relies on clinical presentation, recent travel/activities, and lab testing. RT-PCR for the detection of viral RNA during acute phase, and serological testing for detecting Zika-specific antibodies during convalescent phase are the laboratory assays currently employed. The limitation of current laboratory tests present a great challenge to conquer the Zika epidemic because of their specificity, sensitivity, or the prolonged turnaround time.
To facilitate developing new diagnostic tools and vaccine against Zika virus infection, Immune Tech has geared up our R&D for Zika virus related products. Currently we have the following recombinant proteins available:
NS1 (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from 293 mammalian cells, Cat.# IT-006-0063p;
NS1 (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat.# IT-006-0063Ep;
Envelope Protein (Zika virus, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat.# IT-006-0064Ep ;
E (domain III) (Zika, Brazil) expressed from 293 mammalian cells, Cat.# IT-006-0065p;
Pre-M (Zika, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat.# IT-006-023Ep;
Capsid (Zika, Brazil) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat.# IT-006-024Ep;
Capsid (Zika, Uganda) expressed from bacterial E.Coli, Cat.# IT-006-025Ep;
anti-NS1 (Zika) monoclonal antibodies, click anti-NS1; and
NS1 (Zika Virus, Brazil/Uganda) ELISA Development Kit, Cat.# IT-E3Ag-NS1(Zika Virus)-1
In addition, mouse monoclonal antibodies against above-mentioned Zika proteins are in development and will be available shortly. Please contact us for any further information.