Discovery of ‘hidden’ outbreak hints that Zika virus can spread silently

A genomics study of travel-associated Zika cases reveals an undiscovered outbreak in Cuba in 2017, underscoring the need for coordinated disease surveillance

August 22, 2019

LA JOLLA, CA – Just when international fears of contracting Zika began to fade in 2017, an undetected outbreak was peaking in Cuba—a mere 300 miles off the coast of Miami. A team of scientists at Scripps Research, working in concert with several other organizations, uncovered the hidden outbreak by overlaying air-travel patterns with genomic sequencing of virus samples from infected travelers. The discovery is featured on the cover of the Aug. 22 issue of Cell.