Zika may have flown to Brazil in 2013
Americas Zika genomes linked to Asian strains
The Zika virus may have hopped a ride on a 747 from Southeast Asia in 2013 to invade the Americas.
Oliver Pybus, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford, and his colleagues have retraced the virus’ steps in Brazil and pinpointed its introduction there to between May and December 2013. That coincides with a time when Brazil saw a significant increase in air travelers to and from countries with active Zika outbreaks, the researchers report online March 24 in Science.