Genetic analysis of members of the species Oropouche virus and identification of a novel M segment sequence.

Natasha L Tilston-Lunel,Raimunda S S Azevedo,Daisy E A Da Silva,Sueli G Rodrigues,Gustavo Olszanski Acrani,Pedro F C Vasconcelos,Marcio R T Nunes,Joseph Hughes,Richard M Elliott

doi:10.1099/vir.0.000108

Abstract

Oropouche virus (OROV) is a public health threat in South America, and in particular in northern Brazil, causing frequent outbreaks of febrile illness. Using a combination of deep sequencing and Sanger sequencing approaches, we determined the complete genome sequences of eight clinical isolates that were obtained from patient sera during an Oropouche fever outbreak in Amapa state, northern Brazil, in 2009. We also report the complete genome sequences of two OROV reassortants isolatd from two marmosets in Minas Gerais state, south-east Brazil, in 2012 that contained a novel M genome segment. Interestingly, all 10 isolates possessed a 947 nt S segment that lacked 11 residues in the S-segment 3′ UTR compared with the recently redetermined Brazilian prototype OROV strain BeAn19991. OROV maybe circulating more widely in Brazil and in the non-human primate population than previously appreciated, and the identification of yet another reassortant highlights the importance of bunyavirus surveillance in South America.

Highlights

Oropouche virus (OROV) is a midge-borne orthobunyavirus that causes a febrile illness in humans throughout northern South America
The midge Culicoides paraensis transmits OROV among humans (Pinheiro et al, 1981, 1982; Roberts et al, 1977), whilst in the tropical forest the virus has been isolated from the pale-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) and the black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata), the vectors are largely unknown (Nunes et al, 2005a; Pinheiro et al, 1976)
The mean age of the patients was 26.5 years and all had presented a similar clinical picture characterized by fever, headache, arthralgia, myalgia and ocular pain. Genome sequences for these isolates were generated by de novo assembly of 1 058 075 trimmed and filtered sequence reads obtained using a Roche 454 sequencer

Summary

Introduction

Oropouche virus (OROV) is a midge-borne orthobunyavirus that causes a febrile illness in humans throughout northern South America. The virus is endemic to Brazil and to date all major outbreaks have been limited to the northern region of the country. The midge Culicoides paraensis transmits OROV among humans (Pinheiro et al, 1981, 1982; Roberts et al, 1977), whilst in the tropical forest the virus has been isolated from the pale-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) and the black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata), the vectors are largely unknown (Nunes et al, 2005a; Pinheiro et al, 1976)

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