Abstract
Arboviruses are an important public health problem in Brazil, in especially flaviviruses, including the Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and the Rocio virus (ROCV), are especially problematic. These viruses are transmitted to humans or other vertebrates through arthropod bites and may cause diseases with clinical manifestations that range from asymptomatic infection, viral hemorrhagic fever to encephalitis. A serological survey of horses from various regions of Brazil using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with recombinant SLEV domain III peptides and ROCV E protein as antigens. Overall, 415 (55.1%) of the 753 horses that were screened were seropositive for flavivirus and, among them, monotypic reactions were observed to SLEV in 93 (12.3%) and to ROCV in 46 (6.1%). These results suggested that these viruses, or other closely related viruses, are infecting horses in Brazil. However, none of the studied horses presented central nervous system infection symptoms. Our results suggest that SLEV and ROCV previously circulated among horses in northeast, west-central and southeast Brazil.
Highlights
Arboviruses are an important public health problem in Brazil, in especially flaviviruses, including the Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and the Rocio virus (ROCV), are especially problematic
Serum samples were collected from 753 horses from 2004 through 2009 in 5 Brazilian states, which included 183 serum samples collected at Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias da Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, State of São Paulo; 15 serum samples collected at Universidade de Uberaba, Uberaba, Minas Gerais; 267 serum samples collected through an epidemiological surveillance in Mato Grosso do Sul; 200 serum samples collected from horses at the Military Academy of the Black Needles in Resende, Rio de Janeiro; and 88 serum samples collected at Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, in Campina Grande, Paraíba
When considering only the monotypic reactions, 93 (12.3%) serum samples had antibodies to SLEV and 46 (6.1%) to ROCV
Summary
Arboviruses are an important public health problem in Brazil, in especially flaviviruses, including the Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and the Rocio virus (ROCV), are especially problematic These viruses are transmitted to humans or other vertebrates through arthropod bites and may cause diseases with clinical manifestations that range from asymptomatic infection, viral hemorrhagic fever to encephalitis. Brazil has a population of approximately 200 million people, most of whom live in large cities in the northeast and southeast regions of the country. These conditions are ideal for the existence of many arboviruses, which are maintained in a large variety of zoonotic cycles.
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