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. 2013 Jul;141(7):1552-61.
doi: 10.1017/S0950268813000198. Epub 2013 Feb 22.

The emergence of wildlife species as a source of human rabies infection in Brazil

S R Favoretto  1 , C C de Mattos, C A de Mattos, A C A Campos, D R V Sacramento, E L Durigon
Affiliations

The emergence of wildlife species as a source of human rabies infection in Brazil

S R Favoretto et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Forty-five human rabies virus isolates from a wide geographical area of Brazil were characterized using an anti-nucleoprotein monoclonal antibody panel and by partial nucleotide sequencing analysis of the nucleoprotein gene. Three major antigenic groups related to the antigenic variants maintained in domestic dogs, vampire bats and marmosets were identified. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the viruses from dog-related cases segregated into four sister clades: three associated with dog-endemic cycles in Brazil and one with the crab-eating fox cycle in the northeastern region of the country. The vampire bat- and marmoset-related viruses formed two independent groups. The topology of these clades was conserved when these samples were compared to virus representatives of the currently reported rabies endemic cycles in the Americas. These results indicated the presence of multiple endemic transmission cycles maintained in four different reservoirs, domestic dogs, crab-eating foxes, vampire bats and marmosets, which are being transmitted directly to humans and should be considered as a high-risk for rabies infection.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
[colour online]. Maps and phylogenetic tree of rabies virus (RABV) distribution of 45 Brazilian human samples studied; samples were collected during 1997–2003. (a) Map of RABV distribution in the geographical study region according to genetic lineage representative of four major reservoirs: A, B, C and A4. (b) Phylogenetic tree of 45 RABV samples related to different cycles of transmission. (c) Map showing distribution of Brazilian human samples studied; samples were collected during 1997–2003 in the geographical study region according to genetic lineage related to antigenic variant 2 (AgV2) maintained in dogs with four major subclades: A1, A2, A3 and A4.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
[colour online]. Phylogenetic tree with samples from Brazil and the Americas reconstructed by maximum likelihood using the GARLi program. Bootstrap values were obtained from 1000 resamplings. Only bootstrap values >60% are shown at the branching points. The phylogenetic groups A, B, C and A4 previously observed are maintained after this analysis.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
[colour online]. Gene partial alignment of nucleoprotein antigenic site with Pasteur virus, Cerdocyon thous, Desmodus rotundus, and Callithrix jacchus samples. Amino-acid substitutions are related to different endemic cycles.
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