Genetic characterization of rabies virus isolated from bovines and equines between 2007 and 2008, in the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
BACKGROUND
Rabies is an acute disease of the central nervous system and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of humans, wild animals and livestock, particularly cattle, as well as causing major economic losses. This study describes the genetic characterization of rabies virus variants that circulate in Desmodus rotundus populations and are transmitted to herbivores.


METHODS
Fifty rabies virus isolates from bovines and equines in the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil, were genetically characterized and compared with sequences retrieved from GenBank.


RESULTS
Two clusters (I and II) with mean nucleotide identities of 99.1 and 97.6% were found. The first of these contained nearly all the samples analyzed. Lineages from other Brazilian states grouped in cluster II.


CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of the amino acid sequences of the N proteins revealed the existence of genetic markers that may indicate possible variations between geographic regions, although the biologically active regions are conserved within the species over space and time.
Macedo
Carla Isabel
CI
Institute Pasteur, Virology Department, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. cmsilveira@pasteur.sp.gov.br
Carnieli Junior
Pedro
P
Fahl
Willian de Oliveira
Wde O
Lima
Jonas Yoshitaka de Oliveira
JY
Oliveira
Rafael de Novaes
Rde N
Achkar
Samira Maria
SM
Castilho
Juliana Galera
JG
Carrieri
Maria Luiza
ML
Kotait
Ivanete
I
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D002417:Cattle / Q000821:virology; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary