Timeline: Zika's origin and global spread

This timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery in Uganda nearly 70 years ago:

1947 - Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda's Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey

1948 - Virus recovered from Aedes africanus mosquito in Zika Forest

1952 - First human cases detected in Uganda and Tanzania

1954 - Virus found in Nigeria

1960s-1980s - Zika detected in mosquitoes and monkeys across equatorial Africa

1969–1983 - Zika found in equatorial Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan

2007 - Zika spreads from Africa and Asia, first large outbreak on Pacific island of Yap

2012 - Researchers identify two distinct lineages of the virus, African and Asian

2013–2014 - Zika outbreaks in French Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. Retrospective analysis shows possible link to birth defects and severe neurological complications in babies in French Polynesia

March 2, 2015 - Brazil reports illness characterised by skin rash in northeastern states

April 29, 2015 - Brazilian samples test positive for Zika

July 17, 2015 - Brazil reports detection of neurological disorders in newborns associated with history of infection

October 5, 2015 - Cape Verde has cases of illness with skin rash

October 22, 2015 - Colombia confirms cases of Zika

October 30, 2015 - Brazil reports increase in microcephaly, abnormally small heads, among newborns

November 11, 2015 - Brazil declares public health emergency

November 2015-Jan 2016 - Cases reported in Suriname, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Ecuador, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curacao, Jamaica

February 1, 2016 - World Health Organization declares a public health emergency of international concern

February 2, 2016 - First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite.

February 5, 2016- Outbreaks confirmed in 33 countries in the Americas

February 12, 2016 - World Health Organization says suspected link between Zika and the neurological disorders microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome could be confirmed in weeks.

February 12, 2016 - Brazil investigating potential link between Zika infections and 4,314 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 462 confirmed as microcephaly and 41 determined to be linked to virus.