How Did the Zika Epidemic Start in the Western Hemisphere?

The Zika virus likely entered Brazil from Asia or Polynesia in late 2013 or early 2014.

Early epidemics of Asian genotype Zika virus (ZIKV) occurred in Micronesia in 2007 and in French Polynesia and other Pacific islands between 2013 and 2014. By May 2015, ZIKV had been reported in Brazil, and an initial analysis from May 2015 through January 2016 found that 93% of Brazilian cases were reported in Bahia and that an epidemic peak occurred in mid-July 2015.

To more closely examine how ZIKV arrived in the Americas, investigators sequenced seven ZIKV isolates from Brazilian patients and compared the sequences to all published complete and partial genomic ZIKV sequences. Maximum likelihood analysis indicated that all the Brazilian isolates were highly related to the Asian ZIKV genotype. A phylogenetic molecular clock analysis of the…

Reviewing Author

Richard T. Ellison III, MD

Disclosures

Consult/Advisory BoardAcurx Pharmaceuticals, LLC;

Grant/Research SupportDoctors Company Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Richard T. Ellison III, MD

Disclosures

Consult/Advisory BoardAcurx Pharmaceuticals, LLC;

Grant/Research SupportDoctors Company Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

How Did the Zika Epidemic Start in the Western Hemisphere?

Topics

Reviewing Author