title: A Saint Louis encephalitis and Rocio virus serosurvey in Brazilian horses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Arboviruses are an important public health problem in Brazil, in especially flaviviruses, including the Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and the Rocio virus (ROCV), are especially problematic. These viruses are transmitted to humans or other vertebrates through arthropod bites and may cause diseases with clinical manifestations that range from asymptomatic infection, viral hemorrhagic fever to encephalitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A serological survey of horses from various regions of Brazil using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with recombinant SLEV domain III peptides and ROCV E protein as antigens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 415 (55.1%) of the 753 horses that were screened were seropositive for flavivirus and, among them, monotypic reactions were observed to SLEV in 93 (12.3%) and to ROCV in 46 (6.1%). These results suggested that these viruses, or other closely related viruses, are infecting horses in Brazil. However, none of the studied horses presented central nervous system infection symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that SLEV and ROCV previously circulated among horses in northeast, west-central and southeast Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jaqueline Raymondi
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marilia Farignoli
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Romeiro
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: William Marciel de
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago Demarchi
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Munhoz
authors.affiliation: Escola de Ciências Veterinárias, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazi.
authors.forename: Gustavo Puía
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.affiliation: Academia Militar Agulhas Negras, Resende, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
authors.forename: Otavio Augusto Brioschi
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Academia Militar Agulhas Negras, Resende, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
authors.forename: Carlos Henrique Coelho de
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosângela Zacarias
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Unidade Acadêmica de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campina Grande, PB, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Luana Cristiny Rodrigues
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Uberaba, Uberaba, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joice Lara Maia
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Faria
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Helena
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chávez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Tadeu Moraes
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004665:Encephalitis Virus, St. Louis / Q000276:immunology*; D004674:Encephalitis, St. Louis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018177:Flavivirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006736:Horses; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral