Scientists infect volunteers with Zika in hunt for vaccines, treatments

A female Aedes aegypti mosquito — known to carry diseases such as dengue, Zika and yellow fever — acquires a blood meal on the arm of a researcher at the Biomedical Sciences Institute of Sao Paulo University in Sao Paulo, Brazil/File Photo: AP

WASHINGTON: Researchers in the United States have shown for the first time they can safely and effectively infect human volunteers with Zika virus, a step toward learning more about the disease and developing vaccines and treatments.