Zika; the origin story

establishing Zika’s first-time-ever presence in Brazil, in early 2015– prior to any knowledge of any microcephaly-increase. In the words of one of the central figures, Recife’s Dr. Carlos Brito (2015):
I believe [that 80% of Pernambuco’s dengue cases are in reality] Zika. We investigated 1,100 (dengue) patients . Of this total, 81% met clinical criteria for Zika.
His confidant, Dr. Kleber Luz, an infectious disease expert in Natal earlier had also recharacterized dengue patients, retroactively, as Zika.
"We collected more than 500 samples, and we insisted that it was not dengue, that it was something urgent and new," says Luz. After ruling out other options, (Luz and Brito) concluded it had to be Zika.
There were some behind-the-scenes doubts, in government and the academy.
Drs. Brito and Luz contacted Brazil's Ministry of Health, but the Brazilian government wasn't convinced. Whatever was going around had no dangerous symptoms or long-lasting effects, and people weren't dying. So the government chose not to implement mandatory reporting for the infection, and when the summer of 2015 ended, so did any worries about Zika. "There was enormous resistance to the idea that it could be Zika.” Frustrated, the doctors decided to form their own group to study the virus.