The Madariaga virus follows the footsteps of the Chikungunya and Zika viruses

Abstract

Viruses transmitted by arthropods are the cause of important encephalitis. Several equine encephalitis viruses belong to the family Togaviridae genus Alphavirus, besides Chikungunya and Mayaro, there are the Western encephalitis viruses (WEEV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEEV) and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEEV). EEEV was previously classified into four different lineages / subtypes (I to IV) (1,2). The South American strains (SA) (lineages II-IV), which include isolates from South and Central America, are genetically different in contrast to the strains of North America (NA) that belong to lineage I (3). Due to genetic divergence and significant differences in ecology and pathogenesis, the South American isolates of EEEV were recently classified as a different species that was named Madariaga virus (1).