Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 from the blood of a captive rhesus macaque on an elevated platform in the tree canopy of the Zika Forest, presumably infected by mosquitos. Human infection with the Zika virus was not documented until the early 1950s, and most reports prior to the current outbreaks in the Americas in 2015 emphasized the relatively benign nature of infection. Reports from Micronesia in 2007 and French Polynesia in 2013 suggested that approximately 80% of infections were asymptomatic and that the remaining 20% of infected individuals developed a combination of rash, fever, arthralgia, conjunctivitis, myalgia, and headache (listed in descending order of frequency).
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