Journal of Virology, 2019.
Authors: Giovanetti M, Lima de Mendonça MC, Fonseca V, Mares-Guia MA, Fabri A, Xavier J, Goes de Jesus J, Gräf T, Damasceno Dos Santos Rodrigues C, Cardoso Dos Santos C, Alves Sampaio S, Lowen Levy Chalhoub F, Bruycker Nogueira F, Theze J, Pecego Martins Romano A, Garkauskas Ramos D, Luiz de Abreu A, Kleber Oliveira W, do Carmo Said RF, Campelo de Alburque CF, de Oliveira T, Fernandes CA, Ferreira Aguiar S, Chieppe A, Carvalho Sequeira P, Rodrigues Faria N, Venâncio Cunha R, Alcantara LCJ, Bispo de Filippis AM.
Journal: Journal of Virology,JVI.01623-19. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01623-19: (2019).
Abstract
The recent re-emergence of yellow fever virus (YFV) in Brazil has raised serious concerns due to the virus’ rapid dissemination in the southeastern region. To better understand YFV genetic diversity and dynamics during the recent outbreak in southeastern Brazil we generated 18 complete and near-complete genomes from the peak of the epidemic curve from non-human primates (NHPs) and human infected cases across Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro states.
Genomic sequencing of 18 YFV genomes revealed the estimated timing, source and likely routes of yellow fever virus transmission and dispersion during one of the largest outbreaks ever registered in Brazil. We showed that during the recent epidemic YFV was re-introduced from Minas Gerais to Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro states multiple times between 2016 to 2019. The analysis of data from portable sequencing could identify the corridor of spread of YFV. These findings reinforce that continued genomic surveillance strategies can provide information on virus genetic diversity and transmission dynamics that might assist in the understanding arbovirus epidemics
Importance Arbovirus infections in Brazil including yellow fever, dengue, zika and chikungunya result in considerable morbidity and mortality and are pressing public health concerns. However, our understanding of these outbreaks is hampered by limited availability genomic data. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity and spatial distribution of YFV during the current outbreak by analyzing genomic data from areas in southeastern Brazil not covered by other previous studies. To gain insights into the routes of YFV introduction and dispersion, we tracked the virus by sequencing YFV genomes sampled from non-human primates and infected patients from the southeastern region. Our study provides an understanding of how YFV initiates transmission in new Brazilian regions and illustrates that genomics in field can augment traditional approaches to infectious disease surveillance and control.