title: Isolation of saint louis encephalitis virus from a horse with neurological disease in Brazil.
abstract: St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) is a causative agent of encephalitis in humans in the Western hemisphere. SLEV is a positive-sense RNA virus that belongs to the Flavivirus genus, which includes West Nile encephalitis virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Dengue virus and other medically important viruses. Recently, we isolated a SLEV strain from the brain of a horse with neurological signs in the countryside of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The SLEV isolation was confirmed by reverse-transcription RT-PCR and sequencing of the E protein gene. Virus identity was also confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence using commercial antibodies against SLEV. To characterize this newly isolated strain in vivo, serial passages in newborn mice were performed and led to hemorrhagic manifestations associated with recruitment of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system of newborns. In summary this is the first isolation of SLEV from a horse with neurological signs in Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínica e Cirurgia Veterinárias, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.forename: Erica Azevedo
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Rafael Elias
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Taismara Simas
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Ronaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Furtini
authors.forename: Maria Rosa Quaresma
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bomfim
authors.forename: Mauro Martins
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Tatiane Alves
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Paixão
authors.forename: Renato Lima
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D001938:Brazil; D004665:Encephalitis Virus, St. Louis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004674:Encephalitis, St. Louis / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral