Bat-transmitted human rabies outbreaks, Brazilian Amazon.
We describe 2 bat-transmitted outbreaks in remote, rural areas of Portel and Viseu Municipalities, Pará State, northern Brazil. Central nervous system specimens were taken after patients' deaths and underwent immunofluorescent assay and histopathologic examination for rabies antigens; also, specimens were injected intracerebrally into suckling mice in an attempt to isolate the virus. Strains obtained were antigenically and genetically characterized. Twenty-one persons died due to paralytic rabies in the 2 municipalities. Ten rabies virus strains were isolated from human specimens; 2 other cases were diagnosed by histopathologic examination. Isolates were antigenically characterized as Desmodus rotundus variant 3 (AgV3). DNA sequencing of 6 strains showed that they were genetically close to D. rotundus-related strains isolated in Brazil. The genetic results were similar to those obtained by using monoclonal antibodies and support the conclusion that the isolates studied belong to the same rabies cycle, the virus variants found in the vampire bat D. rotundus.
da Rosa
Elizabeth S T
ES
Departamento de Arbovirologia e Febres Hemorrágicas, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ministry of Health, Av. Almirante Barroso 492, 66093-020 Belém, Brazil.
Kotait
Ivanete
I
Barbosa
Taciana F S
TF
Carrieri
Maria L
ML
Brandão
Paulo E
PE
Pinheiro
Amiraldo S
AS
Begot
Alberto L
AL
Wada
Marcelo Y
MY
de Oliveira
Rosely C
RC
Grisard
Edmundo C
EC
Ferreira
Márcia
M
Lima
Reynaldo J da Silva
RJ
Montebello
Lúcia
L
Medeiros
Daniele B A
DB
Sousa
Rita C M
RC
Bensabath
Gilberta
G
Carmo
Eduardo H
EH
Vasconcelos
Pedro F C
PF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA