Project description:An Oropouche virus strain was isolated from a novel host (Callithrix sp.) in Arinos, Minas Gerais State, southeastern Brazil. The virus was identified by complement fixation test and confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analysis identified this strain as a genotype III isolate previously recognized only in Panama.
Project description:Oropouche virus (OROV) is the causative agent of Oropouche fever, an urban febrile arboviral disease widespread in South America, with >30 epidemics reported in Brazil and other Latin American countries during 1960-2009. To describe the molecular epidemiology of OROV, we analyzed the entire N gene sequences (small RNA) of 66 strains and 35 partial Gn (medium RNA) and large RNA gene sequences. Distinct patterns of OROV strain clustered according to N, Gn, and large gene sequences, which suggests that each RNA segment had a different evolutionary history and that the classification in genotypes must consider the genetic information for all genetic segments. Finally, time-scale analysis based on the N gene showed that OROV emerged in Brazil ≈223 years ago and that genotype I (based on N gene data) was responsible for the emergence of all other genotypes and for virus dispersal.
Project description:Oropouche fever is a neglected arthropodborne disease and zoonosis responsible for several outbreaks of a febrile disease in Central and South America. We present a clinical case of aseptic meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent patient that resulted from Oropouche virus acquired in northern Brazil but diagnosed in a nonendemic region.
Project description:Mayaro virus (MAYV) is widely distributed throughout South America and is the etiologic agent of Mayaro fever, an acute febrile illness often presenting with arthralgic manifestations. The true incidence of MAYV infection is likely grossly underestimated because the symptomatic presentation is very similar to that of dengue fever and other acute febrile tropical diseases. We report the complete genome sequence of a MAYV isolate detected from an Acrelândia patient presenting with fever, chills, and sweating, but with no arthralgia. Results show that this isolate belongs to genotype D and is closely related to Bolivian strains. Our results suggest that the Acre/Mayaro strain is closely related to the progenitor of these Bolivian strains that were isolated between 2002 and 2006.
Project description:Oropouche fever has reemerged in Parauapebas and Porto de Moz municipalities, Pará State, Brazil. Serologic analysis (immunoglobulin M-ELISA) and virus isolation confirmed Oropouche virus (OROV) in both municipalities. Nucleotide sequencing of 2 OROV isolates from each location indicated genotypes I (Parauapebas) and II (Porto de Moz) in Brazil.
Project description:This study aimed to investigate the circulation of Orthobunyavirus species in the state of Mato Grosso (MT) Brazil. During a dengue outbreak in 2011/2012, 529 serum samples were collected from patients with acute febrile illness with symptoms for up to five days and 387 pools of female Culex quinquefasciatus captured in 2013 were subjected to nested-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for segment S of the Simbu serogroup followed by nucleotide sequencing and virus isolation in Vero cells. Patients (5/529; 0.9%) from Cuiabá (n = 3), Várzea Grande (n = 1) and Nova Mutum (n = 1) municipalities were positive for the S segment of Oropouche virus (OROV). Additionally, eight/387 Cx. quinquefasciatus pools were positive for the segment, with a minimum infection rate of 2.3. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all the samples belong to the subgenotype Ia, presenting high homology with OROV strains obtained from humans and animals in the Brazilian Amazon. The present paper reports the first detection of an Orthobunyavirus, possibly OROV, in patients and in Cx. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes in MT. This finding reinforces the notion that arboviruses frequently reported in the Amazon Region circulate sporadically in MT during dengue outbreaks.
Project description:PURPOSE:Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in Acre, Brazil (MINA-Brazil) is a longitudinal, prospective population-based birth cohort, set-up to understand the effects of early environmental exposures and maternal lifestyle choices on growth and development of the Amazonian children. PARTICIPANTS:Mother-baby pairs (n=1246) were enrolled at delivery from July 2015 to June 2016 in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil. Mothers of 43.7% of the cohort were recruited in the study during pregnancy from February 2015 to January 2016. Study visits took place during pregnancy, delivery, at 1?month, 6 months, 1?year and 2 years after delivery. In addition to clinical and epidemiological data, samples collected by the MINA-Brazil study include plasma, serum and extracted DNA from blood and faeces, which are stored in a biobank. FINDINGS TO DATE:Key baseline reports found a high prevalence of gestational night blindness (11.5%; 95% CI 9.97% to 13.25%) and maternal anaemia (39.4%; 95% CI 36.84% to 41.95%) at delivery. Antenatal malaria episodes (74.6% of Plasmodium vivax) were diagnosed in 8.0% of the women and were associated with an average reduction in birth weight z-scores of 0.35 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.57) and in birth length z-scores of 0.31 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.54), compared with malaria-free pregnancies. At 2-year follow-up, data collection strategies combined telephone calls, WhatsApp, social media community and home visits to minimise losses of follow-up (retention rate of 79.5%). FUTURE PLANS:A 5-year follow-up visit is planned in 2021 with similar interviews and biospecimens collection. The findings from this prospective cohort will provide novel insights into the roles of prenatal and postnatal factors in determining early childhood development in an Amazonian population.
Project description:We describe an Oropouche orthobunyavirus infection in a women 28 years of age in Colombia. We confirmed the diagnosis by viral isolation, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, and phylogenetic analysis of the small, medium, and large genomic segments. The virus is related to a strain isolated in Ecuador in 2016.
Project description:The emergence of new human viral pathogens and re-emergence of several diseases are of particular concern in the last decades. Oropouche orthobunyavirus (OROV) is an arbovirus endemic to South and Central America tropical regions, responsible to several epidemic events in the last decades. There is little information regarding the ability of OROV to be transmitted by urban/peri-urban mosquitoes, which has limited the predictability of the emergence of permanent urban transmission cycles. Here, we evaluated the ability of OROV to infect, replicate, and be transmitted by three anthropophilic and urban species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus. We show that OROV is able to infect and efficiently replicate when systemically injected in all three species tested, but not when orally ingested. Moreover, we find that, once OROV replication has occurred in the mosquito body, all three species were able to transmit the virus to immunocompromised mice during blood feeding. These data provide evidence that OROV is restricted by the midgut barrier of three major urban mosquito species, but, if this restriction is overcome, could be efficiently transmitted to vertebrate hosts. This poses a great risk for the emergence of permanent urban cycles and geographic expansion of OROV to other continents.