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During the past year and a half, Zika virus has been spreading rapidly throughout Latin America. In this letter, evidence for the Guillain–Barré syndrome being temporally associated with Zika virus transmission is presented. To the Editor: Zika virus (ZIKV) disease had been described as a mild, self-limiting illness associated with fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. 1 However, during the outbreak in French Polynesia, 42 patients with ZIKV disease were found to have the Guillain–Barré syndrome, which represented a marked increase from the approximately 5 cases detected annually during the previous 4 years. 2 A connection with the Guillain–Barré syndrome had previously been described in association with other flavivirus illnesses 3 , 4 but not with ZIKV infection. From April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, a total of 164,237 confirmed and suspected cases of ZIKV disease . . .

Zika virus has spread rapidly throughout the Americas and has been associated with fetal abnormalities and a variety of neurologic disorders. This report updates the epidemiologic findings over the past 2 years. To the Editor: The first cases of a new illness involving fever and rash that was deemed to have been caused by Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in Brazil were reported in 2014, and the presence of the virus was confirmed in April 2015. In October 2015, an unusual increase in the number of cases of microcephaly among newborn infants was reported in Brazil; this disorder was apparently linked to ZIKV infection. From the first investigations of microcephaly, and from subsequent studies in Brazil and elsewhere, it is now clear that ZIKV is a cause of a range of neurologic disorders, . . .

On Nov 11, 2015, the Brazilian Ministry of Health declared a Public Health Emergency of National Concern in response to an increased number of microcephaly cases, possibly related to previous Zika virus outbreaks. We describe the course of the dual epidemics of the Zika virus infection during pregnancy and microcephaly in Brazil up to Nov 12, 2016, the first anniversary of this declaration. We used secondary data for Zika virus and microcephaly cases obtained through the Brazilian Ministry of Health's surveillance systems from Jan 1, 2015, to Nov 12, 2016. We deemed possible Zika virus infections during pregnancy as all suspected cases of Zika virus disease and all initially suspected, but later discarded, cases of dengue and chikungunya fever. We defined confirmed infection-related microcephaly in liveborn infants as the presence of a head circumference of at least 2 SDs below the mean for their age and sex, accompanied by diagnostic imaging consistent with an infectious cause, or laboratory, clinical, or epidemiological results positive for Zika virus or STORCH (infectious agents known to cause congenital infection, mainly syphilis, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus). We excluded cases of congenital anomalies or death without microcephaly. We analyse the spatial clustering of these diseases in Brazil to obtain the kernel density estimation. Two distinct waves of possible Zika virus infection extended across all Brazilian regions in 2015 and 2016. 1 673 272 notified cases were reported, of which 41 473 (2·5%) were in pregnant women. During this period, 1950 cases of infection-related microcephaly were confirmed. Most cases (1373 [70·4%]) occurred in the northeast region after the first wave of Zika virus infection, with peak monthly occurrence estimated at 49·9 cases per 10 000 livebirths. After a major, well documented second wave of Zika virus infection in all regions of Brazil from September, 2015, to September, 2016, occurrence of microcephaly was much lower than that following the first wave of Zika virus infection, reaching epidemic levels in all but the south of Brazil, with estimated monthly peaks varying from 3·2 cases to 15 cases per 10 000 livebirths. The distribution of infection-related microcephaly after Zika virus outbreaks has varied across time and Brazilian regions. Reasons for these apparent differences remain to be elucidated. None.

We conducted the genome sequencing and analysis of the first confirmed COVID-19 infections in Brazil. Rapid sequencing coupled with phylogenetic analyses in the context of travel history corroborate multiple independent importations from Italy and local spread during the initial stage of COVID-19 transmission in Brazil.

RESUMO O consumo hídrico de uma cultura é uma das principais informações necessárias para o manejo adequado da irrigação e um plano eficiente de uso da água. O objetivo deste trabalho foi encontrar o coeficiente de consumo de água para cultura da cenoura, comparando métodos de evapotranspiração de referência para a região agreste de Alagoas. O experimento foi realizado no Campus Arapiraca da Universidade Federal de Alagoas, localizado na mesorregião Agreste do Estado. Foram utilizados cinco lisímetros de drenagem, com uma área de superfície de 0,07 m2, em que a determinação da evapotranspiração da cultura foi realizada diariamente, por meio de coletas de água dos drenos, obtidas diretamente dos lisímetros de drenagem. O coeficiente de cultivo foi calculado pela relação entre evapotranspiração da cultura e a de referência. Ao mesmo tempo, realizou-se uma análise comparativa dos modelos matemáticos de estimativa de evapotranspiração de referência utilizando os seguintes métodos: Penman-Monteith, Hargreaves-Samani, Radiação Solar, Blaney-Criddle e Priestley-Taylor. Os coeficientes de cultivo para a cultura da cenoura, recomendados para a região são: 0,46; 1,3; 1,3 e 1,03, para as fases I, II, III e IV, respectivamente, obtidos pelo método padrão. Os valores de evapotranspiração de referência obtidos pelo método Priestley-Taylor apresentaram os melhores desempenhos para os métodos estatísticos estudados e, na ausência das variáveis necessárias para se determinar a evapotranspiração de referência pelo método padrão, ele pode ser usado na região estudada.

The global outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. As the number of imported SARS-CoV-2 cases is on the rise in Brazil, we use incidence and historical air travel data to estimate the most important routes of importation into the country.

We describe the epidemic of microcephaly in Brazil, its detection and attempts to control it, the suspected causal link with Zika virus infection during pregnancy, and possible scenarios for the future. In October 2015, in Pernambuco, Brazil, an increase in the number of newborns with microcephaly was reported. Mothers of the affected newborns reported rashes during pregnancy and no exposure to other potentially teratogenic agents. Women delivering in October would have been in the first trimester of pregnancy during the peak of a Zika epidemic in March. By the end of 2015, 4180 cases of suspected microcephaly had been reported. Zika spread to other American countries and, in February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the Zika epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. This unprecedented situation underscores the urgent need to establish the evidence of congenital infection risk by gestational week and accrue knowledge. There is an urgent call for a Zika vaccine, better diagnostic tests, effective treatment, and improved mosquito-control methods.

A Zika virus epidemic emerged in northeast Brazil in 2015 and was followed by a striking increase in congenital microcephaly cases, triggering a declaration of an international public health emergency. This is the final report of the first case-control study evaluating the potential causes of microcephaly: congenital Zika virus infection, vaccines, and larvicides. The published preliminary report suggested a strong association between microcephaly and congenital Zika virus infection. We did a case-control study in eight public maternity hospitals in Recife, Brazil. Cases were neonates born with microcephaly, defined as a head circumference of 2 SD below the mean. Two controls without microcephaly were matched to each case by expected date of delivery and area of residence. We tested the serum of cases and controls and the CSF of cases for detection of Zika virus genomes with quantitative RT-PCR and for detection of IgM antibodies with capture-IgM ELISA. We also tested maternal serum with plaque reduction neutralisation assays for Zika and dengue viruses. We estimated matched crude and adjusted odds ratios with exact conditional logistic regression to determine the association between microcephaly and Zika virus infection. We screened neonates born between Jan 15 and Nov 30, 2016, and prospectively recruited 91 cases and 173 controls. In 32 (35%) cases, congenital Zika virus infection was confirmed by laboratory tests and no controls had confirmed Zika virus infections. 69 (83%) of 83 cases with known birthweight were small for gestational age, compared with eight (5%) of 173 controls. The overall matched odds ratio was 73·1 (95% CI 13·0–∞) for microcephaly and Zika virus infection after adjustments. Neither vaccination during pregnancy or use of the larvicide pyriproxyfen was associated with microcephaly. Results of laboratory tests for Zika virus and brain imaging results were available for 79 (87%) cases; within these cases, ten were positive for Zika virus and had cerebral abnormalities, 13 were positive for Zika infection but had no cerebral abnormalities, and 11 were negative for Zika virus but had cerebral abnormalities. The association between microcephaly and congenital Zika virus infection was confirmed. We provide evidence of the absence of an effect of other potential factors, such as exposure to pyriproxyfen or vaccines (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis, measles and rubella, or measles, mumps, and rubella) during pregnancy, confirming the findings of an ecological study of pyriproxyfen in Pernambuco and previous studies on the safety of Tdap vaccine administration during pregnancy. Brazilian Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization, and Enhancing Research Activity in Epidemic Situations.

Zika virus is an arthropod-borne virus that is a member of the family Flaviviridae transmitted mainly by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. Although usually asymptomatic, infection can result in a mild and self-limiting illness characterised by fever, rash, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis. An increase in the number of children born with microcephaly was noted in 2015 in regions of Brazil with high transmission of Zika virus. More recently, evidence has been accumulating supporting a link between Zika virus and microcephaly. Here, we describe findings from three fatal cases and two spontaneous abortions associated with Zika virus infection. In this case series, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples from five cases, including two newborn babies with microcephaly and severe arthrogryposis who died shortly after birth, one 2-month-old baby, and two placentas from spontaneous abortions, from Brazil were submitted to the Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA) between December, 2015, and March, 2016. Specimens were assessed by histopathological examination, immunohistochemical assays using a mouse anti-Zika virus antibody, and RT-PCR assays targeting the NS5 and envelope genes. Amplicons of RT-PCR positive cases were sequenced for characterisation of strains. Viral antigens were localised to glial cells and neurons and associated with microcalcifications in all three fatal cases with microcephaly. Antigens were also seen in chorionic villi of one of the first trimester placentas. Tissues from all five cases were positive for Zika virus RNA by RT-PCR, and sequence analyses showed highest identities with Zika virus strains isolated from Brazil during 2015. These findings provide strong evidence of a link between Zika virus infection and different congenital central nervous system malformations, including microcephaly as well as arthrogryposis and spontaneous abortions. None.