Uganda Virus Research Institute visit on 2 March 2018 - the forest 34

The Zika (or Ziika) Forest () is a

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fore ...

near

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. T ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. means "overgrown" in the Luganda language. As the property of the

Uganda Virus Research Institute The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is a medical research institute owned by the Uganda government that carries out research on communicable diseases in man and animals, with emphasis on viral transmitted infections. UVRI is a component of ...

(UVRI) of

, it is protected and restricted to scientific research. The forest covers an area of about next to the swamps of Waiya Bay, an inlet of Lake Victoria. Easily accessible and combining several

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, the Zika Forest is well suited to the study of

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

es. According to the UVRI, the size of the research area of the forest is about . The forest has a rich

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

in plants and moths, and is home to about 40 types of mosquitoes. The UVRI also maintains an insectarium. The forest is also accessible to visitors for

bird watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

. Former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

once visited the forest for that purpose. The

Zika virus ''Zika virus'' (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active '' Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, w ...

as well as the moths '' Sidisca zika'' and '' Milocera zika'' are named after the forest. The Zika Forest is where the infected ''Aedes'' mosquito first spread Zika to rhesus monkeys, then spreading further to humans.

Mosquito studies

Investigations of mosquitoes at Zika started in 1946 as part of the study of human

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

at the Yellow Fever Research Institute (renamed East African Virus Research Institute in 1950, and then

in 1977), established in

in 1936 by the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1947, the Zika virus was isolated from a rhesus monkey stationed at Zika. In 1960, a 36.6-metre (120-ft) steel tower was moved from

Mpanga Forest The Mpanga Central Forest Reserve is a Forest Reserve in Uganda. It is a small patch of natural equatorial rainforest covering . It is situated in Mpigi District, Mpambire, 37 km southwest of Kampala City. Onsite is Mpanga Forest Resort managed b ...

to Zika to study the vertical distribution of mosquitoes, allowing for a comprehensive study of the mosquito population in 1964. In that same year, the Zika virus was identified from a collected ''

Aedes africanus ''Aedes africanus'' is a species of mosquito that is found on the continent of Africa with the exclusion of Madagascar. Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Systematic Catalog of Culicidae, ''Aedes aegypti'' and ''Aedes africanus'' are the two main ...

'' sample. No routine mosquito collections were performed for about the next four decades, while human activities encroached on the forest. An updated mosquito collection finally took place in 2009 and 2010. The name ''Zika'' has been made notorious by the Zika virus, involved in a growing number of

outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

s around the globe from 2007 onwards.

References

External links

Zika Forest in Entebbe, Uganda

CNN – Zika virus origin
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