Evolutionary and Ecological Characterization of Mayaro Virus Strains Isolated during an Outbreak, Venezuela, 2010.

In 2010, an outbreak of febrile illness with arthralgic manifestations was detected at La Estación village, Portuguesa State, Venezuela. The etiologic agent was determined to be Mayaro virus (MAYV), a reemerging South American alphavirus. A total of 77 cases was reported and 19 were confirmed as seropositive.

Anidulafungin treatment in a kidney transplant recipient with hepatic damage.

A 50-year old female was treated with anidulafungin after fluconazole treatment, for a complex clinical picture and immunosuppression. Anidulafungin was chosen when liver function test was abnormal in a setting of multiple causes of liver toxicity.

Natural host relationships of hantaviruses native to western Venezuela.

Strains of Caño Delgadito virus (CADV) and Maporal virus (MAPV) were isolated from 25 (8.9%) of the 280 rodents captured on farms in 1997 in western Venezuela. The results of analyses of laboratory and zoographic data indicated that Alston's cotton rat (Sigmodon alstoni) is the principal host of CADV, horizontal virus transmission is the dominant mode of CADV transmission in Alston's cotton rat in nature, a pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys sp.

Genetic diversity between and within the arenavirus species indigenous to western Venezuela.

The results of analyses of Z, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, glycoprotein precursor, and nucleocapsid protein gene sequence data suggested that Guanarito virus was the most common cause of Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever in a 7-year period in the 1990s and that the evolution of Pirital virus in association with Sigmodon alstoni (Alston's cotton rat) has occurred at a significantly higher rate than the evolution of Guanarito virus in association with Zygodontomys brevicauda (short-tailed cane mouse) on the plains of western Venezuela. The results of analyses of the primary structures of the glycoproteins of the 8 strains of Guanarito virus isolated from humans suggested that these strains would be highly cross-reactive in neutralization assays. Thus, passive antibody therapy may prove beneficial in the treatment of human disease caused by strains of Guanarito virus that are enzootic in the region in which Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever is endemic.

Extreme genetic diversity among Pirital virus (Arenaviridae) isolates from western Venezuela.

Pirital-like virus isolates from rodents collected in a variety of habitats within a six-state area of central Venezuela were analyzed genetically by amplifying a portion of the nucleocapsid protein gene using RT-PCR. Comparisons of the sequences from 30 selected Pirital-like virus isolates demonstrated up to 26% divergence in nucleotide sequences and up to 16% divergence in deduced amino acid sequences. Within the Pirital monophyletic group, 14 distinct lineages or genotypes, differing by at least 6% in nucleotide sequences, were identified.