PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2020.
Authors: Goes de Jesus J, Gräf T, Giovanetti M, Mares-Guia MA, Xavier J, Lima Maia M, Fonseca V, Fabri A, Santos RF, Pereira FM, Santos LFO, Silva LRO, Maia ZPG, Cerqueira JXG, Thèze J, Abade L, Cordeiro MCS, Torquato SSC, Santana EB, Silva NSJ, Dourado RSO, Alves AB, Guedes AS, Filho PMC, Faria NR, Campelo de Albuquerque CF, Abreu AL, Romano APM, Croda J, Said RFC, Cunha GM, Cerqueira JMF, Mello ALS, Filippis AMB, Alcantara LCJ.
Journal: PLoS Negl Trop Dis,14(8): e0008405. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008405:14(8): e0008405 (2020)
Abstract
Yellow fever virus (YFV) causes a clinical syndrome of acute hemorrhagic hepatitis. YFV transmission involves non-human primates (NHP), mosquitoes and humans. By late 2016, Brazil experienced the largest YFV outbreak of the last 100 years, with 2050 human confirmed cases, with 681 cases ending in death and 764 confirmed epizootic cases in NHP. Among affected areas, Bahia state in Northeastern was the only region with no autochthonous human cases. By using next generation sequence approach, we investigated the molecular epidemiology of YFV in NHP in Bahia and discuss what factors might have prevented human cases. We investigated 47 YFV positive tissue samples from NHP cases to generate 8 novel YFV genomes. ML phylogenetic tree reconstructions and automated subtyping tools placed the newly generated genomes within the South American genotype I (SA I). Our analysis revealed that the YFV genomes from Bahia formed two distinct well-supported phylogenetic clusters that emerged most likely of an introduction from Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states. Vegetation coverage analysis performed shows predominantly low to medium vegetation coverage in Bahia state. Together, our findings support the hypothesis of two independent YFV SA-I introductions. We also highlighted the effectiveness of the actions taken by epidemiological surveillance team of the state to prevented human cases.