Serologic survey of West Nile virus in horses from Central-West, Northeast and Southeast Brazil

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 108; no. 7
• Main Authors: Silva, Jaqueline Raymondi, de Medeiros, Larissa Campos, dos Reis, Vinícius Pinho, Chαvez, Juliana Helena, Munhoz, Thiago Demarchi, Borges, Gustavo Puia, Soares, Otavio Augusto Brioschi, de Campos, Carlos Henrique Coelho, Machado, Rosângela Zacarias, Baldani, Cristiane Divan, Silva, Maria Luana Cristiny Rodrigues, Faria, Joice Lara Maia, da Silva, Edson Elias, Figueiredo, Luiz Tadeu Moraes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 03-02-2015
• Subjects: Brazil; Flavivirus; West Nile virus
• ISSN: 1678-8060

Since the emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America in 1999,
there have been several reports of WNV activity in Central and South
American countries. To detect WNV in Brazil, we performed a serological
survey of horses from different regions of Brazil using recombinant
peptides from domain III of WNV. Positive samples were validated with
the neutralisation test. Our results showed that of 79 ELISA-positive
horses, nine expressed WNV-specific neutralising antibodies. Eight of
the infected horses were from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and one
was from the state of Paraíba. Our results provide additional
evidence for the emergence of WNV in Brazil and for its circulation in
multiple regions of the country.