Abstract
One of the most important questions in arbovirology concerns the origin of epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) viruses; these viruses caused periodic, extensive epidemics/epizootics in the Americas from 1938-1973 (reaching the United States in 1971) but had recently been presumed extinct. We have documented the 1992 emergence of a new epidemic/epizootic VEE virus in Venezuela. Phylogenetic analysis of strains isolated during two outbreaks indicated that the new epidemic/epizootic virus(es) evolved recently from an enzootic VEE virus in northern South America. These results suggest continued emergence of epizootic VEE viruses; surveillance of enzootic viruses and routine vaccination of equines should therefore be resumed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5278-5281 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 6 1995 |
Keywords
- emerging virus
- epidemiology
- molecular evolution
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General