West Nile virus associated with equid encephalitis in Brazil, 2018

作者：Aila Solimar Gonçalves Silva, Ana Carolina Diniz Matos, Marcos Antônio Correia Rodrigues da Cunha, Izabelle Silva Rehfeld, Grazielle Conssenzo Florentino Galinari, Sóstenes Apolo Correia Marcelino, Luís Henrique Gouvêa Saraiva, Nélson Rodrigo da Silva Martins, Renata de Pino Albuquerque Maranhão, Zélia Inês Portela Lobato, Felipe Pierezan, Maria Isabel Maldonado Coelho Guedes, Érica Azevedo Costa · 发表于：Transboundary and Emerging Diseases · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1111/tbed.13043 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Mosquito-borne diseases and control、Viral Infections and Vectors、Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

Mosquito-borne arboviruses are a major public health concern worldwide and are responsible for emerging and re-emerging diseases. Taken together, the arboviruses have a strong impact on public health and are the most common causes of equine encephalitis. In-depth diagnostic investigation of equine viral encephalitis is of utmost importance for the epidemiological surveillance and control of this disease. Regarding neurological disorders in equids, in April-May 2018, at least 12 cases of equid mortality with acute neurological signs were reported in six farms from Espirito Santo state, Brazil. To investigate the aetiological agent of this neurological disease outbreak, central nervous system (CNS) fragments from two horses and two donkeys were submitted for virologic diagnosis. Rabies, equine herpesvirus-1, and arbovirus-associated encephalomyelitis were investigated using differential diagnosis techniques. West Nile virus (WNV) was detected by nested RT-PCR in CNS fragments from each of the four animals in the study and confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. This is the first case of neurological disease in equids confirmed to be associated with WNV infection in Brazil. This finding unveils a new and urgent field of research and the need to understand the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the disease and the risk to public health.