Zika virus: Epidemiological surveillance of the Mexican Institute of Social Security

INTRODUCTION: At the end of 2015, the first cases of Zika were identified in southern Mexico. During 2016, Zika spread as an outbreak to a large part of the country's coastal zones. METHODOLOGY: The Zika epidemiological surveillance system records cases with clinical symptoms of Zika virus disease (ZVD) and those confirmed by means of a reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. This report includes the suspected and confirmed cases from 2016. Incidence rates were estimated by region and in pregnant women based on the proportion of confirmed cases. RESULTS: In total, 43,725 suspected cases of ZVD were reported. The overall incidence of suspected cases of ZVD was 82.0 per 100,000 individuals and 25.3 per 100,000 Zika cases. There were 4,168 pregnant women with suspected symptoms of ZVD, of which infection was confirmed in 1,082 (26%). The estimated incidence rate of ZVD for pregnant women nationwide was 186.1 positive Zika cases per 100,000 pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of Zika in Mexico is higher than that reported previously in the National System of Epidemiological Surveillance. Positive cases of Zika must be estimated and reported.