title: Molecular epidemiology of rabies from Maranhão and surrounding states in the northeastern region of Brazil.
abstract: Although many outbreaks of rabies have been reported in northern Brazil, few epidemiological studies of these outbreaks have been undertaken. In this study, molecular epidemiological analyses were performed using 41 rabies virus samples isolated in the Maranhão (MA), Pará (PA), and Tocantins (TO) states of northeastern Brazil. A 599-bp region of the glycoprotein (G) gene was first amplified from each sample by RT-PCR, then sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. A phylogenetic tree divided the 41 isolates into two clades: Clade I was associated with terrestrial carnivores and Clade II was associated with vampire bats. The Clade I isolates were further sub-divided into two groups. The first group was closer to carnivore isolates that predominate in central Brazil, whereas the second group more closely resembled wild fox isolates from the northeastern coastal state of Paraíba (PB). MA isolates of Clade II formed an entirely separate group. These results demonstrate that bat- and dog-transmitted rabies occur in northwestern Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Nihon University Veterinary Research Center, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itou
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: C J C
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brito
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000821:virology; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002335:Carnivora / Q000821:virology; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000821:virology; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins