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. 2006 Aug;12(8):1197-202.
doi: 10.3201/eid1208.050929.

Bat-transmitted human rabies outbreaks, Brazilian Amazon

Elizabeth S T da Rosa  1 , Ivanete Kotait, Taciana F S Barbosa, Maria L Carrieri, Paulo E Brandão, Amiraldo S Pinheiro, Alberto L Begot, Marcelo Y Wada, Rosely C de Oliveira, Edmundo C Grisard, Márcia Ferreira, Reynaldo J da Silva Lima, Lúcia Montebello, Daniele B A Medeiros, Rita C M Sousa, Gilberta Bensabath, Eduardo H Carmo, Pedro F C Vasconcelos
Affiliations

Bat-transmitted human rabies outbreaks, Brazilian Amazon

Elizabeth S T da Rosa et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Aug.

Abstract

We describe 2 bat-transmitted outbreaks in remote, rural areas of Portel and Viseu Municipalities, Pará State, northern Brazil. Central nervous system specimens were taken after patients' deaths and underwent immunofluorescent assay and histopathologic examination for rabies antigens; also, specimens were injected intracerebrally into suckling mice in an attempt to isolate the virus. Strains obtained were antigenically and genetically characterized. Twenty-one persons died due to paralytic rabies in the 2 municipalities. Ten rabies virus strains were isolated from human specimens; 2 other cases were diagnosed by histopathologic examination. Isolates were antigenically characterized as Desmodus rotundus variant 3 (AgV3). DNA sequencing of 6 strains showed that they were genetically close to D. rotundus-related strains isolated in Brazil. The genetic results were similar to those obtained by using monoclonal antibodies and support the conclusion that the isolates studied belong to the same rabies cycle, the virus variants found in the vampire bat D. rotundus.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pará State, showing the municipalities of Portel and Viseu, where vampire bat–transmitted rabies cases were reported. Source: Adapted from Government of Pará State website, http://www.brasilrepublica.hpg.ig.com.br/para.htm
Figure 2
Figure 2
Neighbor-joining tree with K2P model based on partial nucleoprotein gene sequences of rabies virus from Desmodus rotundus AgV3, raccoons, fixed strains, and dog AgV2. Each taxon is represented by its respective GenBank accession number (human strains from the present study are in bold and underlined). Numbers at each node are 1,000 bootstrap replicate values; the bar indicates genetic distance.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Typical human dwellings in the Acuty Perera River region, Portel (A), and in the Curupati area, Viseu (B). Note in (A) a house without walls on the Acuty Perera River.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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