title: Molecular epidemiology of livestock rabies viruses isolated in the northeastern Brazilian states of Paraíba and Pernambuco from 2003 - 2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited or no epidemiological information has been reported for rabies viruses (RABVs) isolated from livestock in the northeastern Brazilian states of Paraíba (PB) and Pernambuco (PE). The aim of this study was to clarify the molecular epidemiology of RABVs circulating in livestock, especially cattle, in these areas between 2003 and 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Phylogenetic analysis based on 890 nt of the nucleoprotein (N) gene revealed that the 52 livestock-derived RABV isolates characterized here belonged to a single lineage. These isolates clustered with a vampire bat-related RABV lineage previously identified in other states in Brazil; within PB and PE, this lineage was divided between the previously characterized main lineage and a novel sub-lineage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The occurrences of livestock rabies in PB and PE originated from vampire bat RABVs, and the causative RABV lineage has been circulating in this area of northeastern Brazil for at least 7 years. This distribution pattern may correlate to that of a vampire bat population isolated by geographic barriers.
authors.affiliation: Nihon University Veterinary Research Center, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan. itou.takuya@nihon-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Maria Lcr
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: José Ab
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itou
authors.forename: Fumio H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai