Abstract
In 2010, an outbreak of febrile illness with arthralgic manifestations was detected at La Estación village, Portuguesa State, Venezuela. The etiologic agent was determined to be Mayaro virus (MAYV), a reemerging South American alphavirus. A total of 77 cases was reported and 19 were confirmed as seropositive. MAYV was isolated from acute-phase serum samples from 6 symptomatic patients. We sequenced 27 complete genomes representing the full spectrum of MAYV genetic diversity, which facilitated detection of a new genotype, designated N. Phylogenetic analysis of genomic sequences indicated that etiologic strains from Venezuela belong to genotype D. Results indicate that MAYV is highly conserved genetically, showing ≈17% nucleotide divergence across all 3 genotypes and 4% among genotype D strains in the most variable genes. Coalescent analyses suggested genotypes D and L diverged ≈150 years ago and genotype diverged N ≈250 years ago. This virus commonly infects persons residing near enzootic transmission foci because of anthropogenic incursions.
Highlights
In 2010, an outbreak of febrile illness with arthralgic manifestations was detected at La Estación village, Portuguesa State, Venezuela
Alphaviruses can be categorized as Old or New World viruses, which are generally associated with febrile illnesses with either arthralgic or encephalitic syndromes, respectively [1,2]
Antibody detection and virus isolation rates indicate that Mayaro virus (MAYV) commonly infects persons residing near enzootic transmission foci, and high incidence rates have been detected by using clinical surveillance [32]
Summary
In 2010, an outbreak of febrile illness with arthralgic manifestations was detected at La Estación village, Portuguesa State, Venezuela. Coalescent analyses suggested genotypes D and L diverged ≈150 years ago and genotype diverged N ≈250 years ago This virus commonly infects persons residing near enzootic transmission foci because of anthropogenic incursions. Mayaro virus (MAYV), an exceptional arthralgic New World alphavirus, produces Mayaro fever, which has signs and symptoms similar to those of dengue fever, including an acute febrile illness. MAYV has been isolated or antibodies against the virus were detected in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Surinam, Bolivia, French Guiana, and Trinidad [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are moderately competent vectors [22], which suggests that an urban human–mosquito–human transmission cycle could emerge, as has occurred for dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever viruses with similar enzootic forest cycles [23]
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