Abstract
Anthropic changes on the edges of the tropical forests may facilitate the emergence of new viruses from the sylvatic environment and the simultaneous circulation of sylvatic and urban viruses in the human population. In this study, we investigated the presence of arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses) in the sera of 354 patients, sampled from February 2014 to October 2018 in Sinop city. We sequenced the complete genomes of one chikungunya virus (CHIKV)-positive and one out of the 33 Mayaro virus (MAYV)-positive samples. The CHIKV genome obtained here belongs to the East/Central/South African (ECSA) genotype and the MAYV genome belongs to the L genotype. These genomes clustered with other viral strains from different Brazilian states, but the CHIKV strain circulating in Sinop did not cluster with other genomes from the Mato Grosso state, suggesting that at least two independent introductions of this virus occurred in Mato Grosso. Interestingly, the arrival of CHIKV in Sinop seems to not have caused a surge in human cases in the following years, as observed in the rest of the state, suggesting that cross immunity from MAYV infection might be protecting the population from CHIKV infection. These findings reinforce the need for continued genomic surveillance in order to evaluate how simultaneously circulating alphaviruses infecting the human population will unfold.
Highlights
Arboviruses, arthropod-transmitted viruses, can successfully replicate in both invertebrates, vectors and vertebrate host cells [1]
Several human pathogenic arboviruses circulate in the sylvatic environment, with eventual spillover to the human population, such as Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) [4,5], West Nile virus (WNV) [6,7] and Mayaro virus (MAYV) [8,9]
Epidemiological surveillance based on genome-scale sequencing of the circulating viral strains is valuable for the prompt detection of adaptive mutations, which is essential for understanding transmission patterns, assessing the risk of emergence and intervening in vector control strategies [75]
Summary
Arboviruses, arthropod-transmitted viruses, can successfully replicate in both invertebrates, vectors and vertebrate host cells [1] These viruses are mostly transmitted by mosquitoes in sylvatic and urban environments, causing a large public health burden in several tropical countries around the globe [2]. Viruses from the Togaviridae family are zoonotic and epizootic pathogens that cause recurrent epidemics in both human and animal populations [11,12], such as the mosquito-borne alphaviruses chikungunya virus (CHIKV), O’nyong’nyong virus (ONNV), Ross River virus (RRV) and Mayaro virus (MAYV), and the viruses of the Western (WEEV), Eastern (EEEV) and Venezuelan (VEEV) equine encephalitides [12,13]. The Asian/Caribbean genotype is predominantly endemic/epidemic among human populations [19,20]
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