The emergence of the Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in South and Central America has quickly become an international public health crisis. ZIKV often causes a self-limited febrile illness, but acute infection can be considerably more pernicious, leading to complications such as encephalitis, myelitis, and in some cases Guillain-Barré syndrome, which has led to a number of fatalities [1]. Furthermore, infection in pregnant women has been associated with severe teratogenic effects, including microcephaly and retinal lesions. The link between perinatal infections and microcephaly has prompted many local health officials to recommend that women delay pregnancy indefinitely [2].

Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, primarily transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito [3]. The Aedes genus has a domestic predilection, preferring to live indoors and feed on humans [4]. Given these behaviors, it is not surprising that the geographic distribution of A. aegypti has closely mirrored human migration and urbanization [3]. The ZIKV was first isolated in Africa in 1947, where it was associated with sporadic cases. However, in recent years, other outbreaks occurred in the South Pacific. The first significant outbreak of ZIKV occurred on Yap Island, Micronesia, in 2007, followed by an epidemic in French Polynesia in 2013. Then, in 2015, the virus began to spread throughout the western hemisphere following the path of other arboviruses like dengue and chikungunya, starting with an outbreak in Brazil linked to the 2014 FIFA World Cup [5]. More than 20 countries in the Americas are now affected [6]. The temporal association of the ZIKV outbreak in Brazil with the marked increased incidence of microcephaly and other neurologic conditions has garnered worldwide attention. On February 1, 2016, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, urging increased surveillance and mosquito population control. Phylogenetic analysis has revealed two main lineages of ZIKV, the African and the Asian lineages. The dominant viral strain currently circulating throughout South and Central America is closely related to the Asian lineage that previously affected French Polynesia, where it was associated with a similar rise in neurologic sequelae in newborns [7]. The teratogenic effects observed have begged the question of whether the virus has undergone a recombination event or alternative modification increasing its virulence. There is an increasing volume of evidence that ZIKV is transmitted not only by mosquitos but also sexually, making the ZIKV the only arbovirus linked to sexual transmission [8]. The first reported case of male-to-female sexual transmission