Endemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in northern Peru

Emerg Infect Dis. 2004 May;10(5):880-8. doi: 10.3201/eid1005.030634.

Abstract

Since Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) was isolated in Peru in 1942, >70 isolates have been obtained from mosquitoes, humans, and sylvatic mammals primarily in the Amazon region. To investigate genetic relationships among the Peru VEEV isolates and between the Peru isolates and other VEEV strains, a fragment of the PE2 gene was amplified and analyzed by single-stranded conformation polymorphism. Representatives of seven genotypes underwent sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The results identified four VEE complex lineages that cocirculate in the Amazon region: subtypes ID (Panama and Colombia/Venezuela genotypes), IIIC, and a new, proposed subtype IIID, which was isolated from a febrile human, mosquitoes, and spiny rats. Both ID lineages and the IIID subtype are associated with febrile human illness. Most of the subtype ID isolates belonged to the Panama genotype, but the Colombia/Venezuela genotype, which is phylogenetically related to epizootic strains, also continues to circulate in the Amazon basin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Culicidae / virology
  • Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine / classification*
  • Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine / genetics*
  • Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine / isolation & purification
  • Encephalomyelitis, Venezuelan Equine / epidemiology*
  • Encephalomyelitis, Venezuelan Equine / virology
  • Endemic Diseases*
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / genetics
  • Peru / epidemiology
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational
  • Protein Precursors
  • RNA, Viral / analysis
  • RNA, Viral / isolation & purification
  • Rodent Diseases / virology
  • Rodentia / virology
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Protein Precursors
  • RNA, Viral
  • Viral Proteins
  • glycoprotein PE2, Sindbis virus