Zika virus directly infects peripheral neurons and induces cell death.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with neurological disorders of both the CNS and peripheral nervous systems (PNS), yet few studies have directly examined PNS infection. Here we show that intraperitoneally or intraventricularly injected ZIKV in the mouse can infect and impact peripheral neurons in vivo. Moreover, ZIKV productively infects stem-cell-derived human neural crest cells and peripheral neurons in vitro, leading to increased cell death, transcriptional dysregulation and cell-type-specific molecular pathology.