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[Preprint]. 2024 Apr 18:2024.04.15.24305848.
doi: 10.1101/2024.04.15.24305848.

Molecular epidemiology of Western equine encephalitis virus in Brazil, 2023-2024

Aline Scarpellini Campos  1 , Ana Claúdia Franco  2 , Fernanda Godinho  1 , Rosana Huff  1 , Jader da Cruz Cardoso  1 , Paola Morais  1 , Carolina Franceschina  1 , Thales de Lima Bermann  2 , Franciellen Machado Dos Santos  1 , Milena Bauermann  1 , Tainá Machado Selayaran  1 , Amanda Pellenz Ruivo  1 , Cristiane Santin  3 , Juciane Bonella  3 , Carla Rodenbusch  3 , José Carlos Ferreira  3 , Scott C Weaver  4 , Vilar Ricardo Gewehr  3 , Gabriel Luz Wallau  5   6 , William M de Souza  7 , Richard Steiner Salvato  1   2
Affiliations

Molecular epidemiology of Western equine encephalitis virus in Brazil, 2023-2024

Aline Scarpellini Campos et al. medRxiv. .

Update in

  • Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023-2024.
    Campos AS, Franco AC, Godinho FM, Huff R, Candido DS, da Cruz Cardoso J, Hua X, Claro IM, Morais P, Franceschina C, de Lima Bermann T, Dos Santos FM, Bauermann M, Selayaran TM, Ruivo AP, Santin C, Bonella J, Rodenbusch C, Ferreira JC, Weaver SC, Gewehr VR, Wallau GL, de Souza WM, Salvato RS. Campos AS, et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Sep;30(9):1834-1840. doi: 10.3201/eid3009.240530. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024. PMID: 39173662 Free PMC article.

Abstract

During the ongoing western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) outbreak in South America, we described three fatal cases in horses from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We sequenced WEEV strains and identified a novel lineage causing these cases. Continued surveillance and horse immunization are needed to mitigate the WEEV burden.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Molecular epidemiology of Western equine encephalitis virus in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.
A) Map of fatal horse cases positive by rRT-PCR for WEEV (red), per municipality, in Rio Grande do Sul State between December 2023 and April 2024. The cases occurred occurred in Barra do Quaraí on 21 December 2023 (EQ1090), Uruguaiana on 28 December 2023 (EQ1122), and in Jaguarão on 30 January 2024 (EQ237). The municipalities tested are described in Appendix Table S1. B) Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of WEEV, including three new WEEV genomes (red dots) from Rio Grande do Sul State generated in this study. The phylogeny is midpoint rooted. The scale bar indicates the evolutionary distance of substitutions per nucleotide. Bootstrap values based on 1,000 replicates are shown on principal nodes. The GenBank accession numbers of sequences used in this figure are presented in Appendix Table S4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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