Classification of Zika virus sequences with respect to their species and subspecies

Zika virus is an arthropod-borne virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus. Findings from studies of the amino acid and nucleotide sequence of different isolates of Zika virus have shown that there are at least two major Zika lineages. The use of nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence relatedness is a relevant criterion for the demarcation of viral species. This chapter goes on to discuss the classification of Zika virus sequences and Zika virus lineages proposed by different phylogenetic studies.