Zika virus in the Americas: Early epidemiological and genetic findings

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 352; no. 6283; pp. 345 - 349
• Main Authors: Faria, Nuno Rodrigues, do Socorro da Silva Azevedo, Raimunda, Kraemer, Moritz U. G., Souza, Renato, Cunha, Mariana Sequetin, Hill, Sarah C., Thézé, Julien, Bonsall, Michael B., Bowden, Thomas A., Rissanen, Ilona, Rocco, Iray Maria, Nogueira, Juliana Silva, Maeda, Adriana Yurika, da Silva Vasami, Fernanda Giseli, de Lima Macedo, Fernando Luiz, Suzuki, Akemi, Rodrigues, Sueli Guerreiro, Cruz, Ana Cecilia Ribeiro, Nunes, Bruno Tardeli, de Almeida Medeiros, Daniele Barbosa, Rodrigues, Daniela Sueli Guerreiro, Queiroz, Alice Louize Nunes, da Silva, Eliana Vieira Pinto, Henriques, Daniele Freitas, da Rosa, Elisabeth Salbe Travassos, de Oliveira, Consuelo Silva, Martins, Livia Caricio, Vasconcelos, Helena Baldez, Casseb, Livia Medeiros Neves, de Brito Simith, Darlene, Messina, Jane P., Abade, Leandro, Lourenço, José, Alcantara, Luiz Carlos Junior, de Lima, Maricélia Maia, Giovanetti, Marta, Hay, Simon I., de Oliveira, Rodrigo Santos, da Silva Lemos, Poliana, de Oliveira, Layanna Freitas, de Lima, Clayton Pereira Silva, da Silva, Sandro Patroca, de Vasconcelos, Janaina Mota, Franco, Luciano, Cardoso, Jedson Ferreira, da Silva Gonçalves Vianez-Júnior, João Lídio, Mir, Daiana, Bello, Gonzalo, Delatorre, Edson, Khan, Kamran, Creatore, Marisa, Coelho, Giovanini Evelim, de Oliveira, Wanderson Kleber, Tesh, Robert, Pybus, Oliver G., Nunes, Marcio R. T., Vasconcelos, Pedro F. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 15.04.2016; The American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Subjects: Aedes - virology; Americas - epidemiology; Animals; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemiology; Female; Genome, Viral - genetics; Humans; Incidence; Insect Vectors - virology; Life Sciences; Microcephaly - epidemiology; Microcephaly - virology; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Neuropathology; Pacific Islands - epidemiology; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Pregnancy; RNA, Viral - genetics; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Travel; Zika virus; Zika Virus - classification; Zika Virus - genetics; Zika Virus - isolation & purification; Zika Virus Infection - epidemiology; Zika Virus Infection - transmission; Zika Virus Infection - virology; Americas; Pacific Islands
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf5036

Brazil has experienced an unprecedented epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV), with ~30,000 cases reported to date. ZIKV was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and cases of microcephaly potentially associated with ZIKV infection were identified in November 2015. We performed next-generation sequencing to generate seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes sampled from four self-limited cases, one blood donor, one fatal adult case, and one newborn with microcephaly and congenital malformations. Results of phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses show a single introduction of ZIKV into the Americas, which we estimated to have occurred between May and December 2013, more than 12 months before the detection of ZIKV in Brazil. The estimated date of origin coincides with an increase in air passengers to Brazil from ZIKV-endemic areas, as well as with reported outbreaks in the Pacific Islands. ZIKV genomes from Brazil are phylogenetically interspersed with those from other South American and Caribbean countries. Mapping mutations onto existing structural models revealed the context of viral amino acid changes present in the outbreak lineage; however, no shared amino acid changes were found among the three currently available virus genomes from microcephaly cases. Municipality-level incidence data indicate that reports of suspected microcephaly in Brazil best correlate with ZIKV incidence around week 17 of pregnancy, although this correlation does not demonstrate causation. Our genetic description and analysis of ZIKV isolates in Brazil provide a baseline for future studies of the evolution and molecular epidemiology of this emerging virus in the Americas.