Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) causes congenital neurologic birth defects, notably microcephaly, and has been associated with other serious complications in adults. The virus has been detected in human breast milk and possible transmissions via breastfeeding have been reported. Breast milk is rich in nutrients and bio-active substances that might directly affect viral infectivity. Thus, here, we analyzed the effect of human breast milk on ZIKV infection. We observed that fresh human breast milk had no effect on ZIKV, but found that upon storage, milk effectively suppressed infection. The antiviral activity is present in the fat-containing cream fraction of milk and results in the destruction of the structural integrity of viral particles, thereby abrogating infectivity. The release of the factor is time dependent but varies with donors and incubation temperatures. The viral titer of milk that was spiked with ZIKV decreased considerably upon storage at 37 °C for 8 h, was lost entirely after 2 days of 4 °C storage, but was not affected at −20 °C. This suggests that cold storage of milk inactivates ZIKV and that the antiviral factor in milk may also be generated upon breastfeeding and limit this transmission route of ZIKV.
Highlights
Zika virus (ZIKV) is aemerging virus that was originally identified in 1947 in Uganda [1] but has caused a series of epidemics in Micronesia [2], the South Pacific [3], and the Americas [4].To date, 84 countries or territories reported ZIKV transmissions [5]
As ZIKV is shed into human breast milk [15,20,21,22,23,24,25,28,29], we analyzed the effect of this body fluid on ZIKV infection
tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50) -adjusted amounts of virus were mixed with equal volumes of serially diluted pooled breast milk
Summary
84 countries or territories reported ZIKV transmissions [5]. Considered a harmless infection in humans, ZIKV may cause disease in adults, including meningoencephalitis [6], myelitis [7], thrombocytopenia [8], and Guillain–Barré syndrome [9,10]. It is established that ZIKV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, where it can cause fetal demise, microcephaly, and other congenital problems [11], which may develop in up to 46% of the cases [12]. ZIKV infection poses a high risk for human health, as vaccines and therapeutics are not available. ZIKV is mainly transmitted to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito [13]
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