(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists from the Immunological Institute of La Jolla in the US have discovered two new dangerous mutations of the Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes.
The virus was first detected in Uganda in the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The last large-scale outbreak of the virus was in Latin America in 2015-2016, at the same time it was found that the fetus in the womb developed microcephaly.
The virus is difficult to tolerate, and new mutations are deadly, cause fever and death of the fetus in the womb. Mutations were discovered during experiments when mice were injected with infected cells, and then virus particles from mice were transplanted into mosquitoes.
As a result, two mutations ZN-p10 and ZDI-p10 were identified. That is, new strains are infectious for both humans and animals.
The source of the mutations were changes in the NS2B gene, which is responsible for the production of viral proteins – the basis of new viral particles. Also, these changes suppress innate immunity.
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