Scott Weaver and his colleagues at UTMB took advantage of chikungunya epidemiological data. In a paper published in Nature Communications this month (June 16), the team compared consensus sequence information from 91 clinical isolates of A226V Chikungunya viruses to identify four sublineages with common genetic signatures. Each such signature included two to four characteristic mutations scattered throughout several viral proteins. The work shows that “the virus isn’t finished yet: it’s got additional opportunities to further adapt and become more efficiently transmitted by albopictus,” said Weaver. The news also appears in The Hindu.