The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to microcephaly and other neurological problems in newborns of affected mothers directly infects the brain progenitor cells destined to become neurons, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a study published online in Cell Reports. The team of researchers used a strain of Zika currently impacting the Americas, and found that the virus infects about 20 percent of cells on average, evades immune system detection, and continues to replicate for weeks. http://sciencebulletin.org/archives/1845.html
Scientists apparently have found a human protein IFITM that blocks Zika virus replication and prevents brain cell death. IFITM, is already known and it's an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG). It's made rapidly as a part of "first response" to control viral infections. IFITM1 has been shown to inhibit entry/fusion of other viruses, including Influenza A. http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(16)30687-8
