WASHINGTON, DC, USA (CMC) — The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched a new Zika Research Projects List, a database that categorises all scientific studies on the Zika virus worldwide, including the Caribbean.

PAHO said it has “systematically identified and collected basic information on all investigations related to Zika, both those already published and those on track to be published”.

The database includes the title, authors and a direct link to the article.

According to PAHO, each study has been categorised in the areas of virus, vectors and reservoirs; epidemiology; disease pathogenesis and consequences of Zika infection; clinical management; public health interventions; health systems and services response; research and product development; and causality.

One can also search by publication type: published articles, protocol and publication of preliminary results, PAHO said.

It said the search mechanism was created after a group of experts from around the world met in March to discuss a regional agenda to prioritise and coordinate research on Zika.

At that meeting, PAHO said researchers concluded that efforts must be increased to explore unknown factors about microcephaly and other congenital malformations that may be linked to infection by the virus.

Experts analysed and mapped the gaps in scientific knowledge about the virus, how it affects people, its implications for public health in the Americas, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector that transmits the disease, PAHO said.

To date, the Zika virus is circulating in 34 countries and territories in the Americas, including the Caribbean.

The virus is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito, and now has been found to be sexually transmitted.

Zika has also been associated with congenital malformations such as microcephaly, and neurological complications, such as Guillain Barré syndrome.

PAHO said the research projects list is an additional tool to coordinate and keep adding knowledge about Zika virus as it appears.