Isolation of Mayaro Virus from a Venezuelan Patient with Febrile Illness, Arthralgias, and Rash: Further Evidence of Regional Strain Circulation and Possible Long-Term Endemicity

Abstract

Fifty-two febrile patients living in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, were screened for arbovirus infection by virus culture during an outbreak of what was thought to be Zika virus infection. We report identification of Mayaro virus (MAYV) on culture of plasma from one patient, an 18-year-old woman with acute febrile illness, arthralgias, and psoriasiform rash. The strain was sequenced and was found to be most closely related to a 1999 strain from French Guiana, which, in turn, was related to two 2014 strains from Haiti. By contrast, previously reported outbreak-related MAYV strains from a sylvatic area approximately 80 miles from where the case patient lived were most closely related to Peruvian isolates. The two strain groups show evidence of having diverged genetically approximately 100 years ago.

Mayaro as a Caribbean traveler: Evidence for multiple introductions and transmission of the virus into Haiti

“…MAYV was identified in plasma samples from five patients. Two of the five cases have been previously reported (Ball et al, 2018;Lednicky et al, 2016), albeit as single cases, with the existence of two other strains noted in another paper (Blohm et al, 2019); the current manuscript combines data for all strains, and provides a unified phylogenetic and molecular clock analysis. In one case, the patient was found to be infected with both MAYV and DENV1 (Lednicky et al, 2016); a second case involved a dual infection with MAYV and CHIKV (Ball et al, 2018).…”

“…Methods for viral identification and phylogenetic analysis have been previously described ( Blohm et al, 2019 ; Mavian et al, 2017 ; Ball et al, 2018 ; Lednicky et al, 2016 ). In brief: plasma was separated and screened by rtRT-PCR for dengue, chikungunya, and zika viruses, with virus isolation then attempted in cell culture.…”

“…The primary vectors include mosquitoes within the genus Haemagogus , although Aedes spp may also be competent vectors ( Acosta-Ampudia et al, 2018 ). While originally isolated in Trinidad ( Anderson et al, 1957 ), the majority of MAYV cases have been reported from the Amazon basin region, including Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador ( Acosta-Ampudia et al, 2018 ; Halsey et al, 2013 ; Blohm et al, 2019 ; Mavian et al, 2017 ; Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 2019 ; Auguste et al, 2015 ).…”

Inhibition of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Impairs Mayaro Virus Replication in Human Dermal Fibroblasts and HeLa Cells

“…MAYV was isolated for the first time from the sera of forest workers in Trinidad and Tobago in 1954 [ 3 ]. Since then, several studies have revealed increasing activity of this virus in different Latin American countries, including Brazil, Peru, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Inhibition of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Impairs Mayaro Virus Replication in Human Dermal Fibroblasts and HeLa Cells

“…MAYV was isolated for the first time from the sera of forest workers in Trinidad and Tobago in 1954 [3]. Since then, several studies have revealed an increasing activity of this virus in different Latin American countries, including Brazil, Peru, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”