Scientists from the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention have examined whether Zika virus (ZIKV) could be detected from conjunctival swab samples of laboratory-confirmed ZIKV cases.
The clinical symptoms of ZIKV infection are mostly a mild and self-limited rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye). More than 80 percent of ZIKV infections are asymptomatic. Severe eye damage in infants with microcephaly was associated with ZIKV infection. However, it has not been clear whether the eye lesions are the result of microcephaly or directly ZIKV infection.
Since February 12, 2016, 11 ZIKV infection cases (Chinese travelers) were imported from Venezuela in Guangdong, China. All the cases were confirmed to be ZIKV infection by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Serum and conjunctival swab samples were taken from 6 of 11 cases.
Moreover, epidemiological data and experimental studies are needed to assess the further significance of this finding because of increasing complications caused by ZIKV infection.
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