Rabies virus maintained by dogs in humans and terrestrial wildlife, Ceará State, Brazil

Abstract

Rabies viruses circulating in Ceará, Brazil, were identified by molecular analysis to be related to variants maintained by dogs, bats, and other wildlife. Most of these viruses are associated with human rabies cases. We document the emergence of a rabies virus variant responsible for an independent epidemic cycle in the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous).

Figure 1

Rabies virus isolates by geographic localization and neighbor-joining tree showing a comparison of the groups formed by Ceará State, Brazil, samples isolated from 1997 to 2003. Bootstrap values of >50% obtained from 100 resamplings of the data using distance matrix methods are shown in the nods.

Figure 2

Neighbor-joining tree showing a comparison of Ceará samples (groups A, B, C, D, E) with isolates obtained from the Americas. Bootstrap values of >50% obtained from 100 resamplings of the data using distance matrix methods are shown in the nods. The sequences from Latin America used in the comparison were identified as as follows: group I, dogs and terrestrial wildlife from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Peru (mxsk, skunk from Mexico; mxdg and mxmx, dog from Mexico; vedg, dog from Venezuela; codg, dog from Colombia; drmg, mongoose from Dominican Republic; mxgm, bobcat from Mexico; pefx, fox from Peru) and terrestrial wildlife from the United States (caussk, skunk from California; txuscy, coyote from Texas; wiussk, striped skunk from Wisconsin; arussk, striped skunk from Arkansas; azusfox, gray fox from Arizona; txusfx, gray fox from Texas); and group II, terrestrial wildlife from the United States (flrac, raccoon from Florida; parac, raccoon from Philadelphia; ksussk, striped skunk from Kansas; arussk, striped skunk from Arkansas). The antigenic variant and endemic cycle to which it belongs are shown in the tree. (GenBank accession no. AB201803 is a vampire bat from Brazil and nos. AY654585, AY654587, AY654586 are humans and a marmoset from Brazil). EC, endemic cycle.