Comparative evolutionary epidemiology of dengue virus serotypes

► Evolutionary rates are statistically identical in all DENV serotypes. ► The E gene codon sites are under strong purifying selection. ► No evidence of adaptive molecular evolution was found on the basal branches of DENV. ► DENV genetic diversity presents a strong geographic structure on a global scale. ► Effective population sizes of DENV-1, 2 and 3 have increased since the early 2000s.