Zika Case Confirmed in West Africa

The recent Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Weekly Report confirmed that the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus (ZIKV) has been detected in Africa.

On April 30, 2025, the Africa CDC reported Burkina Faso's first Zika case this year. The patient was a young girl with no travel history in the 15 days before her symptoms began.

A study previously reported that ZIKV seroprevalence was 22.75% in the donor samples in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa.

In June 2022, these researchers wrote, ' It is essential to strengthen existing arbovirus surveillance in Burkina Faso and more broadly in West Africa by focusing on fevers of unknown origin and integrating vector surveillance to assess the extent of ZIKV circulation and identify the circulating strain.'

There were no Zika cases in the United States as of May 2, 2025.

However, as of December 31, 2024, the U.S. CDC reported 19 non-congenital Zika cases among U.S. residents (1 imported case in Texas). Furthermore, Puerto Rico has been categorized as having a risk of Zika virus transmission for several years.

In 2025, this serious health risk was detected over 9,400 times in the Region of the Americas, led by Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Currently, the only method to prevent a Zika infection is to avoid mosquito bites, as no preventive vaccine has been approved. The leading Zika vaccine candidate is conducting clinical trials in 2025.