First case of laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection imported into Europe, November 2013

D Tappe; J Rissland; M Gabriel; P Emmerich; S Günther; G Held; S Smola; J Schmidt-Chanasit

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.4.20685

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First case of laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection imported into Europe, November 2013
D Tappe^1,2 , J Rissland^2,3 , M Gabriel¹ , P Emmerich¹ , S Günther¹ , G Held⁴ , S Smola^2,3 , J Schmidt-Chanasit^1,2,5
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Affiliations: ¹ Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Haemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany ² These authors contributed equally to this work ³ Institute of Virology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany ⁴ Internal Medicine I, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany ⁵ German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hamburg-Luebeck-Borstel, Hamburg, Germany

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J Schmidt-Chanasit
jonassi gmx.de
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Citation style for this article: Tappe D, Rissland J, Gabriel M, Emmerich P, Günther S, Held G, Smola S, Schmidt-Chanasit J. First case of laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection imported into Europe, November 2013. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(4):pii=20685. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.4.20685 Received: 27 Jan 2014

Abstract

In November 2013, an acute Zika virus (ZIKV) infection was diagnosed in a German traveller returning from Thailand. The patient reported a clinical picture resembling dengue fever. Serological investigations revealed anti-ZIKV-IgM and -IgG, as well as ZIKV-specific neutralising antibodies in the patient's blood. In Europe, viraemic travellers may become a source of local transmission of ZIKV, because Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Ae. aegypti (Linnaeus) are invasive mosquitoes and competent vectors for ZIKV. .