Zika virus (ZIKV), a pathogen within the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae brought an international public health emergency due to its association with neonatal microcephaly case (Platt and Miner 2017). Currently the most reliable diagnostic test is PCR detection of ZIKV RNA from body fluid samples. Unfortunately, the short viremia window and asymptomatic/mild infections greatly reduce the success rate of PCRs (de Vasconcelos et al. 2018). Serological assays play a pivotal role in retrospective diagnosis of ZIKV infection, especially for pregnant women concerned about ZIKV infection during their early stages of pregnancy (de Vasconcelos et al. 2018). However, due to the high level of cross reactivity among related flaviviruses, all serology tests conducted in locations where flaviviruses co-circulate prove to be difficult for making a conclusive diagnosis, especially for diagnosis of ZIKV infection in dengue virus (DENV) pre-exposed individuals (David et al. 2017; L’Huillier et al. 2017; de Vasconcelos et al. 2018).

This difficulty is exacerbated by the lack of serum panels from individuals with an absolutely defined infection status, hence presenting a chicken-and-egg cycle in which any attempt to develop a specific assay has to rely on serum panels where infection status is not 100% defined. In this case, even the ‘‘gold standard’’assay, the virus