寨卡病毒是黄病毒科的一种虫媒病毒，主要通过伊蚊叮咬传播。寨卡病毒是单股正链RNA病毒，根据全基因序列系统发生分析可将其分为非洲系和亚洲系，非洲系寨卡病毒主要感染非人灵长类动物，而非洲以外地区的多次寨卡病毒病暴发均由亚洲系引起，人类可能是其主要宿主。寨卡病毒感染很可能与先天小头畸形以及吉兰-巴雷综合征相关。逆转录-聚合酶链反应是实验室诊断寨卡病毒的主要方法，血清学检测也可用于寨卡病毒的实验室检测，但与其他黄病毒有一定的交叉反应。美国的DNA疫苗和印度的灭活疫苗是当前研究进展较快的2种寨卡病毒候选疫苗。

 Zika virus is an arbovirus of the Flaviviridae family and transmitted mainly by aedes mosquitoes. Zika virus is a single positive stranded RNA virus, and can be divided into African and Asian lineages by phylogenetic analysis. African lineage is thought to infect non-human primates, while Asian lineage has caused several outbreaks of Zika virus disease in area outside Africa and humans have probably become its main host. Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome are linked to Zika virus infection. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction is the main diagnostic test for Zika virus. Serological test is also used to diagnose Zika virus, but, to some degree, there will be cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses. Two vaccine candidates are at a more advanced stage, including a DNA vaccine from US and an inactivated vaccine from India.