Deciphering emerging Zika and dengue viral epidemics: Implications for global maternal-child health burden.

Since its discovery in 1947 in Uganda and control and eradication efforts have aimed at its vectors (Aedes mosquitoes) in Latin America in the 1950s, an absolute neglect of Zika programs and interventions has been documented in Aedes endemic and epidemic-prone countries. The current unprecedented Zika viral epidemics and rapid spread in the Western hemisphere pose a substantial global threat, with associated anxiety and consequences. The lack of safe and effective drugs and vaccines against Zika or dengue epidemics further buttresses the realization from the West Africa Ebola outbreak that most emerging disease-prone countries are still poorly prepared for an emergency response.