Monday, February 27, 2017
Supported by Research to Prevent Blindness, Study Shows Zika Virus Can Cause Blindness
Scientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology at the Kresge Eye Institute are the first to show that the Zika virus (ZIKV) can replicate in the eye's retinal cells, causing severe tissue damage and even blindness in some cases.
Ashok Kumar, Ph.D., a microbiologist and an assistant professor in the departments of Ophthalmology and of Anatomy and Cell Biology, led a team of researchers to investigate whether ZIKV causes abnormalities in the eye and, if so, how. The answer is published today in JCI Insight, a journal of the American Society for Clinical Investigation...