West Nile Virus in the State of Ceará, Northeast Brazil.
Flávia Löwen Levy ChalhoubEudson Maia de Queiroz-JúniorBruna Holanda DuarteMarcos Eielson Pinheiro de SáPedro Cerqueira LimaAilton Carneiro de OliveiraLívia Medeiros Neves CassebLiliane Leal das ChagasHamilton Antônio de Oliveira MonteiroMaycon Sebastião Alberto Santos NevesCyro Facundo ChavesPaulo Jean da Silva MouraAline Machado Rapello do NascimentoRodrigo Giesbrecht PinheiroAntonio Roberio Soares VieiraFrancisco Bergson Pinheiro MouraLuiz Osvaldo Rodrigues da SilvaKiliana Nogueira Farias da EscóssiaLindenberg Caranha de SousaIzabel Leticia Cavalcante RamalhoAntônio Williams Lopes da SilvaLeda Maria Simōes MelloFábio Felix de SouzaFrancisco das Chagas AlmeidaRaí Dos Santos RodriguesDiego do Vale ChagasAnielly Ferreira-de-BritoKarina Ribeiro Leite Jardim CavalcanteMaria Angélica Monteiro de Mello Mares-GuiaVinícius Martins Guerra CamposNieli Rodrigues da Costa FariaMarcelo Adriano da Cunha E Silva VieiraMarcos Cesar Lima de MendonçaNayara Camila Amorim de Alvarenga PivisanJarier de Oliveira MorenoMaria Aldessandra Diniz VieiraRicristhi Gonçalves de Aguiar GomesFernanda Montenegro de Carvalho AraújoPedro Henrique de Oliveira PassosDaniel Garkauskas RamosAlessandro Pecego Martins RomanoLívia Carício MartinsRicardo Lourenço de OliveiraAna Maria Bispo de FilippisAlex Pauvolid-CorrêaPublished in: Microorganisms (2021)
In June 2019, a horse with neurological disorder was diagnosed with West Nile virus (WNV) in Boa Viagem, a municipality in the state of Ceará, northeast Brazil. A multi-institutional task force coordinated by the Brazilian Ministry of Health was deployed to the area for case investigation. A total of 513 biological samples from 78 humans, 157 domestic animals and 278 free-ranging wild birds, as well as 853 adult mosquitoes of 22 species were tested for WNV by highly specific serological and/or molecular tests. No active circulation of WNV was detected in vertebrates or mosquitoes by molecular methods. Previous exposure to WNV was confirmed by seroconversion in domestic birds and by the detection of specific neutralizing antibodies in 44% (11/25) of equids, 20.9% (14/67) of domestic birds, 4.7% (13/278) of free-ranging wild birds, 2.6% (2/78) of humans, and 1.5% (1/65) of small ruminants. Results indicate that not only equines but also humans and different species of domestic animals and wild birds were locally exposed to WNV. The detection of neutralizing antibodies for WNV in free-ranging individuals of abundant passerine species suggests that birds commonly found in the region may have been involved as amplifying hosts in local transmission cycles of WNV.