NIH Official Describes Work Against Zika Virus

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci tells members of a House subcommittee inquiring into the public health response to an outbreak of the Zika and virus that his agency is responsible for the research and development of countermeasures to the virus, saying that his dual mandate is unique among the National Institutes of Health, because while he must develop a robust protocol and agenda in all areas of responsibility, for him it happens to be immunology, he also must be able to respond very rapidly to emerging threats such as Zika virus. Fauci refers to a prospectus he wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine a month earlier that Zika presents another threat, that looking historically over the last decades there was west Nile, Chikungunya, Dengue fever and Zika, that there will be others. He says there must be a research component in order to develop a response with multifaceted work which is not very well appreciated for pharmaceuticals and academics entering into the field. Fauci explains some facets of the agency’s work on the natural history of infected persons, the Zika virus and how it has evolved. Fauci says little is known about the immune response to contraction of Zika and vector control of its transmission, saying there are a number of companies interested in participating with trials and potential therapeutics, which he calls very important.