Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Viruses (VEEV) in Argentina: serological evidence of human infection

PISANO, M.B.; GRISELDA I. ORIA; BESKOW, G.; AGUILAR J.; KONIGHEIM B.; CACACE M.L.; AGUIRRE L. ; STEIN M.; CONTIGIANI M. S.

PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2013

1935-2735

Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses (VEEV) are responsible for human diseases in the Americas, producing severe or mild illness with symptoms indistinguishable from dengue and other arboviral diseases. For this reason, many cases remain without certain diagnosis. Seroprevalence studies for VEEV subtypes IAB, ID, IF (Mosso das Pedras virus), IV (Pixuna virus) and VI (Rio Negro virus) were conducted in persons from Northern provinces of Argentina: Salta, Chaco and Corrientes, using plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). Rio Negro virus (RNV) was detected in all studied provinces. Chaco presented the highest prevalence of this virus (14.1%). Antibodies against subtype IAB and -for the first time- against subtypes IF and IV were also detected in this province. In Corrientes, seroprevalence against RNV was 1.3% in the pediatric population, indicating recent infections. In Salta, this was the first investigation of VEEV and antibodies against RNV and Pixuna virus (PIXV) were detected. These results provide evidence of circulation of many VEEV subtypes in Northern Argentina, showing that surveillance of these infectious agents should be intensified.