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Molecular characterization of atypical antigenic variants of canine rabies virus reveals its reintroduction by wildlife vectors in southeastern Mexico

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Abstract

Rabies is an infectious viral disease that is practically always fatal following the onset of clinical signs. In Mexico, the last case of human rabies transmitted by dogs was reported in 2006 and canine rabies has declined significantly due to vaccination campaigns implemented in the country. Here we report on the molecular characterization of six rabies virus strains found in Yucatan and Chiapas, remarkably, four of them showed an atypical reaction pattern when antigenic characterization with a reduced panel of eight monoclonal antibodies was performed. Phylogenetic analyses on the RNA sequences unveiled that the three atypical strains from Yucatan are associated with skunks. Analysis using the virus entire genome showed that they belong to a different lineage distinct from the variants described for this animal species in Mexico. The Chiapas atypical strain was grouped in a lineage that was considered extinct, while the others are clustered within classic dog variants.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Maribel González Villa for her encouragement and discussion of this paper and to the staff of Laboratorio de Rabia and Departamento de Biología Molecular for their technical assistance. We also thank the Public Health Laboratories of Chiapas. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official opinion of the Ministry of Health in Mexico.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos “Dr. Manuel Martínez Báez” (InDRE), Secretaría de Salud, Francisco de P. Miranda 177, Lomas de Plateros, Álvaro Obregón, 01480, Mexico City, Mexico

    Fabiola Garcés-Ayala, Nidia Aréchiga-Ceballos, Joanna M. Ortiz-Alcántara, Elizabeth González-Durán, Sandra I. Pérez-Agüeros, Belem Torres-Longoria, Irma López-Martínez, Lucía Hernández-Rivas, José Alberto Díaz-Quiñonez & José Ernesto Ramírez-González

  2. Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (ENCB), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N, Casco de Santo Tomás, Miguel Hidalgo, 11340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Fabiola Garcés-Ayala, Elizabeth González-Durán, Alfonso Méndez-Tenorio & Belem Torres-Longoria

  3. Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad Académica de Ciencias y Tecnología UNAM, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Yucatán, Carretera Mérida-Chuburná Puerto 31262, 97302, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Joanna M. Ortiz-Alcántara

  4. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Paseo de las Facultades S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    José Alberto Díaz-Quiñonez

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  1. Fabiola Garcés-Ayala
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Correspondence to José Ernesto Ramírez-González.

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Garcés-Ayala, F., Aréchiga-Ceballos, N., Ortiz-Alcántara, J.M. et al. Molecular characterization of atypical antigenic variants of canine rabies virus reveals its reintroduction by wildlife vectors in southeastern Mexico. Arch Virol 162, 3629–3637 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3529-4

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