The Appropriate Rainfall to Development of Zika Virus: An Indonesian Case.

Dear Editor,

Zika virus has become a critical problem needing serious attention. This virus is transmitted through mosquito bites, Aedes, and it is strongly influenced by climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall and humidity (1,2). Zika virus infections have been spreading in Southeast Asian contries such as Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia (3).

In Indonesia, Zika virus was detected from a young man in Jambi Province (4). Jambi is located in the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The discovery of this case becomes a serious concern because the young man has never traveled internationally, which contradicts with various studies that claim that the distribution of Zika virus was associated with traveling abroad (5).

In line with this case, a descriptive study was conducted to assess climate rainfall in Jambi province. The results indicated thatrainfall max = 2463.0 mm, rainfall min = 16.8 mm with average rainfall = 352.2 mm was appropriate for zika virus. Rainfall is likely to increase the transmission of Zika virus by accelerating the development of the vector (6,7). A research conducted in Batam, Indonesia, revealed that there is a relationship between the incidence of vector-borne diseases with rainfall (8).The rainy season is the right time for the vector mosquitoes to hatch their eggs (9). Theref, it can be said that rainfall in the Province of Jambi is one of the factors that can develop Zika virus.