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Eastern equine encephalitis cases among horses in Brazil between 2005 and 2009

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Abstract

Eastern equine encephalitis is a viral zoonosis that exhibits complex distribution and epidemiology, and greater importance should be given to this disease by the public-health authorities. In Brazil, although eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) has been identified in vectors and antibodies are sometimes detected in horses and humans, there have been no records of equine encephalitis in horses caused by this virus during the last 24 years. This study describes eighteen cases of eastern equine encephalomyelitis that occurred in six Brazilian states between 2005 and 2009. Viral RNA was identified using semi-nested RT-PCR to detect members of the genus Alphavirus, and by genetic sequencing. The gene encoding NSP1 was partially amplified, and after genetic sequencing, eighteen sequences were generated. All eighteen strains were classified as belonging to lineage III of American EEEV. These findings could be an indication of the importance of this virus in animal and human public health.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Pasteur Institute, São Paulo, Brazil.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seção de Diagnóstico da Raiva, Instituto Pasteur, Av. Paulista, 393-Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01311-000, Brazil

    Rafael de Novaes Oliveira, Keila Iamamoto, Samira Maria Achkar, Juliana Galera Castilho, Pedro Carnieli Jr., Maria Luiza Carrieri, Ivanete Kotait & Carla Isabel Macedo

  2. Hospital Veterinário, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campus de Patos, Patos, PB, Brazil

    Maria Luana Cristiny Rodrigues Silva

  3. Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Ekaterina Durymanova Ono & Paulo Eduardo Brandão

  4. Coordenação de Vigilância em Saúde, Secretaria Municipal de Saúde, Prefeitura de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Renata Spinelli Vaz Lobo

Authors
  1. Rafael de Novaes Oliveira
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  2. Keila Iamamoto
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  3. Maria Luana Cristiny Rodrigues Silva
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  4. Samira Maria Achkar
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  5. Juliana Galera Castilho
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  6. Ekaterina Durymanova Ono
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  7. Renata Spinelli Vaz Lobo
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  8. Paulo Eduardo Brandão
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  9. Pedro Carnieli Jr.
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  10. Maria Luiza Carrieri
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  11. Ivanete Kotait
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  12. Carla Isabel Macedo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rafael de Novaes Oliveira.

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de Novaes Oliveira, R., Iamamoto, K., Silva, M.L.C.R. et al. Eastern equine encephalitis cases among horses in Brazil between 2005 and 2009. Arch Virol 159, 2615–2620 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-014-2121-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-014-2121-4

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