--- title: How Zika Virus Spread in Americans and Florida description: New studies reveal how Zika spread around the world and in the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-25T15:21:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:04:15.052Z article:section: Health og:title: How Zika Virus Spread in Americans and Florida og:description: New studies reveal how Zika spread around the world and in the U.S. og:url: https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: mosquito og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Zika Virus Spread in Americans and Florida twitter:description: New studies reveal how Zika spread around the world and in the U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Zika Was Spreading Long Before Experts Realized It > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e4ea7551-5c4e-4c2b-a397-dbaf7f19948f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Zika Is on the Verge of Becoming a Pandemic [Watch (HLS stream): Zika Is on the Verge of Becoming a Pandemic](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lRmMG3k2.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2016-11-03. With almost 450,000 reported cases worldwide_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 25, 2017 3:21 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 25, 2017 3:21 PM UTC The [Zika virus](http://time.com/4599858/zika-pregnancy-danger/), which has caused thousands of cases of the severe birth defect microcephaly in infants, was circulating in South America for months before infections were detected, according to a [new study](https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature22402.html) published Wednesday in the journal _Nature_. The researchers analyzed Zika virus genomes collected in 11 countries and territories from people with infections as well as mosquitoes. The analysis of over 100 Zika genomes revealed how the virus spread through central and south America and even into the United States. The researchers, including geneticist [Pardis Sabeti](http://time.com/3822958/pardis-sabeti-2015-time-100/) of the Broad Institute and Harvard University and a TIME 100 honoree, report that it’s likely the Zika virus was spreading in Brazil in February 2014, which is a full year before infections of the virus were being reported. In other countries like Columbia and Puerto Rico, the virus also appeared to be spreading many months before the countries identified the presence of infections. “Because the data we generated capture the geographic diversity of the virus across the Americas, they provide an opportunity to trace how and when the virus spread,” said study co-author Hayden Metsky, a graduate student in the Sabeti lab, in a statement. “Our data and findings will also support development of more effective molecular diagnostic tests, as well as improved public health surveillance tools.” [In another study](https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature22400.html) published in _Nature_, researchers looked at how the Zika virus entered the state of Florida and reported that the virus appeared to be circulating circulating in Spring of 2016, and that there was likely four different introductions of the virus into Florida that contributed to its spread. The researchers say their study underlines the need for more sensitive diagnostic tools for infectious diseases as well as the importance of sharing information about disease spread across countries. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/"},"headline":"Zika Was Spreading Long Before Experts Realized It","datePublished":"2017-05-25T15:21:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:04:15.052Z","description":"New studies reveal how Zika spread around the world and in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/","keywords":["Zika","Florida","Mosquitoes","Zika virus","microcephaly"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fbfb3ca36acc618/69889607bc6cfc63a23dd3bf/mosquito.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mosquito","caption":"mosquito","creditText":"Getty Images; Illustration by Marisa Gertz for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/","name":"Zika Was Spreading Long Before Experts Realized It"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Zika Is on the Verge of Becoming a Pandemic","description":"With almost 450,000 reported cases worldwide","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lRmMG3k2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-03T19:05:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lRmMG3k2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/","duration":"PT2M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4793294/zika-spreading/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```