Resumen

GRILLET, María Eugenia  y  DEL VENTURA, Fabiola. Emergence of the Zika virus in Latin America and the control of Aedes Aegypti. Bol Mal Salud Amb [online]. 2016, vol.56, n.2, pp.97-112. ISSN 1690-4648.

Zika virus is up till now another mosquito-borne virus (arbovirus) that is rapidly emerging in an urban setting, on a global scale. In the Americas, it has emerged on the heels of a recent chikungunya epidemic. Therefore, currently, there are 6 (six) viral infections circulating and transmitted by Aedes aegypti in the continent if we include the 4 (four) endemic serotypes of dengue. A Zika epidemic that began in Brazil in 2015 has now spread rapidly to more than 60 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, infecting more than 2 million inhabitants. The continuous discovery of the ways of transmission and the clinical and epidemiologic expressions of this virus show the complexity of the virus-host-mosquito interactions. This epidemic currently continues unabated and is partially explained by the high populations of Ae. aegypti that the virus found in the urban settings. Integrate vector management program have been ineffective in control this mosquito in the region; however, they are currently the only way of alleviating the impact of the Zika virus on the health of people in Latin America.

Palabras clave : Arbovirus; Flavivirus; Zika; Mosquitos; Vector; Aedes aegypti; Aedes albopictus; Venezuela.