title: Serological study of vaccinia virus reservoirs in areas with and without official reports of outbreaks in cattle and humans in São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: Vaccinia virus (VACV), the etiological agent of an exanthematic disease, has been associated with several bovine outbreaks in Brazil since the end of the global vaccination campaign against smallpox. It was previously believed that the vaccine virus used for the WHO global campaign had adapted to an unknown wild reservoir and was sporadically re-emerging in outbreaks in cattle and milkers. At present, it is known that Brazilian VACV is phylogenetically different from the vaccinia virus vaccinal strain, but its origin remains unknown. This study assessed the seroprevalence of orthopoxviruses in domestic and wild animals and farmers from 47 farms in three cities in the southwest region of the state of São Paulo with or without official reports of outbreaks in cattle or humans. Our data indicate a low seroprevalence of antibodies in wild animals and raise interesting questions about the real potential of wild rodents and marsupials as VACV reservoirs, suggesting other routes through which VACV can be spread.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade Estadual Paulista, Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina Gea
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.forename: Thais Silva
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Bacchiega
authors.forename: Camila Michele
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Appolinário
authors.forename: Acácia Ferreira
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.forename: Susan Dora
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Allendorf
authors.forename: João Marcelo Azevedo Paula
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.forename: Sabrina Almeida
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Emerson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Legatti
authors.forename: Clóvis Rinaldo
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: Edviges Maristela
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Pituco
authors.forename: Liria Hiromi
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: José Carlos de Figueiredo
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pantoja
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Megid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000821:virology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D006801:Humans; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000821:virology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012377:Rodentia / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014615:Vaccinia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral