ABSTRACT
Oropouche virus (OROV), genus Orthobunyavirus, family Bunyaviridae, is an important cause of human illness in tropical South America. Herein, we report the isolation, complete genome sequence, genetic characterization, and phylogenetic analysis of an OROV species reassortant, Madre de Dios virus (MDDV), obtained from a sick monkey (Cebus olivaceus Schomburgk) collected in a forest near Atapirire, a small rural village located in Anzoategui State, Venezuela. MDDV is one of a growing number of naturally occurring OROV species reassortants isolated in South America and was known previously only from southern Peru.
Subject(s)
Cebus/virology , Genome, Viral , Orthobunyavirus/genetics , Phylogeny , RNA, Viral/genetics , Reassortant Viruses/genetics , Animals , Bunyaviridae Infections/diagnosis , Bunyaviridae Infections/virology , Chlorocebus aethiops , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing , Orthobunyavirus/classification , Orthobunyavirus/isolation & purification , Reassortant Viruses/classification , Reassortant Viruses/isolation & purification , Venezuela , Vero CellsABSTRACT
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.
Subject(s)
Alphavirus Infections/epidemiology , Alphavirus/genetics , Biological Evolution , Biota/immunology , Disease Outbreaks , Alphavirus/growth & development , Female , Humans , Male , Phylogeny , Venezuela/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Phylogenetic analysis of yellow fever virus (YFV) strains isolated from Venezuela strongly supports YFV maintenance in situ in Venezuela, with evidence of regionally independent evolution within the country. However, there is considerable YFV movement from Brazil to Venezuela and between Trinidad and Venezuela.
