Asian lineage Zika virus infection in a traveler returning to Italy from Seychelles, April 2024

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging orthoflavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. In humans, ZIKV infection is mostly asymptomatic or presents with mild febrile illness. Initially detected in Africa, ZIKV has now spread across Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas, causing major epidemics from 2013 to 2017, which revealed its association with fetal microcephaly and other neurodevelopmental defects. Though large outbreaks have subsided, sporadic ZIKV cases still appear, particularly in the Americas and Asia, where approximately 30,000 cases are reported annually in Brazil, and notable transmission spikes occurred in India in 2018. In Africa, ZIKV data remain sparse, but reports from travelers suggest ongoing transmission. Here, we report a ZIKV case in a traveler returning from the Seychelles, a country with established Aedes aegypti mosquito populations but no prior evidence of ZIKV transmission, according to the World Health Organization.