1,221 results match your criteria: "Encephalitis Eastern Equine"

Structural and functional basis of VLDLR usage by Eastern equine encephalitis virus.

Cell

January 2024

Department of Pathology & Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Center for Vaccines and Immunity to Microbial Pathogens, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • The very-low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) has eight LDLR type A (LA) domains and is involved in the entry of certain alphaviruses like Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV).
  • Research using cryo-electron microscopy and mutagenesis revealed that EEEV interacts with multiple VLDLR sites simultaneously, but no single LA domain is essential for effective infection.
  • The findings led to the creation of a minimal VLDLR decoy receptor that can neutralize EEEV and provides protection in mice against severe infections.
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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers investigated the role of LDLR and other LDLR family members as entry factors for alphaviruses, discovering that blocking these receptors does not completely stop infection, indicating more unidentified factors are involved.
  • Using CRISPR-Cas9, they identified LDLR in mouse neuronal cells as a candidate receptor that aids in the infection of various alphaviruses like EEEV and Western equine encephalitis virus.
  • Their findings suggest that LDLR interacts weakly with virus proteins, and developing inhibitors using decoy proteins could provide a way to reduce alphavirus infections and related diseases.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on the very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and its role in enabling the entry of Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) and Semliki Forest virus (SFV).
  • Researchers used cryo-electron microscopy and mutagenesis to discover that EEEV interacts with multiple sites on the VLDLR simultaneously, indicating that multiple domains are involved rather than just one being sufficient for infection.
  • The findings led to the development of a minimal VLDLR decoy receptor, which effectively neutralizes EEEV and provides protection in mice against severe infection.
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Article Synopsis
  • Alphaviruses are RNA viruses spread by arthropods, with eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) being highly virulent and often leading to severe neurological issues in survivors.
  • Researchers identified two brain-expressed proteins, VLDLR and ApoER2, as cellular receptors for EEEV and another alphavirus, Semliki Forest virus (SFV).
  • Using cryo-electron microscopy, the study revealed that EEEV and SFV bind to VLDLR using different methods, indicating that various alphaviruses can utilize the same receptor through unique interactions, potentially allowing for broader viral adaptability.
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Article Synopsis
  • Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), Madariaga virus (MADV), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus complex (VEEV) are mosquito-borne viruses that cause febrile and neurological diseases in humans and horses.
  • Researchers developed real-time reverse transcription PCR assays to detect these viruses using whole-genome sequences and validated them with various samples collected during outbreaks and surveillance in Panama.
  • The assays successfully identified VEEV complex RNA in a significant number of samples, revealing its presence even in suspected dengue cases, indicating their potential use for surveillance in endemic areas.
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Severe Neurologic Disease in a Horse Caused by Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus, Austria, 2021.

Viruses

September 2023

Viral Zoonoses, Emerging and Vector-Borne Infections Group, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.

Article Synopsis
  • *The study utilized various tests, including ELISA, RT-qPCR, and Sanger sequencing, to identify and confirm the presence of TBEV in horse brain tissue and serum samples.
  • *Findings indicated the Western European subtype of TBEV as the cause, emphasizing the importance of early diagnostic procedures after neurological signs appear to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment.
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Article Synopsis
  • * It found that while diseases like Dengue and Zika are well-covered, several others, including Tick-borne encephalitis and Rift Valley fever, are showing increasing publication rates, indicating a potential resurgence.
  • * The review stresses the need for ongoing surveillance, enhanced vaccination efforts, and targeted research to address the growing health challenges posed by these diseases, particularly their impact on the pediatric population.
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Alphavirus replicons are being developed as self-amplifying RNAs aimed at improving the efficacy of mRNA vaccines. These replicons are convenient for genetic manipulations and can express heterologous genetic information more efficiently and for a longer time than standard mRNAs. However, replicons mimic many aspects of viral replication in terms of induction of innate immune response, modification of cellular transcription and translation, and expression of nonstructural viral genes.

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Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus: A Case Report and Brief Literature Review of Current Therapeutic and Preventative Strategies.

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis

February 2024

Department of Pharmacy, St. Joseph's/Candler Health System, Savannah, Georgia, USA.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a rare mosquito-borne illness exhibiting rapid neurological deterioration and permanent damage. Despite its >30% mortality and >60% long-term neurological damage, EEEV has no approved antiviral medication or vaccination. This report uniquely aims to describe a rare case of EEEV and provide a current literature review of therapeutic and preventative options from the clinical perspective to guide clinicians and public health workers, along with informing them about its impact and current knowledge gaps.

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An integrated public health response to an outbreak of Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection during the 2022-2023 mosquito season in Victoria.

Front Public Health

October 2023

Communicable Diseases Section, Health Protection Branch, Victorian Department of Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Introduction: Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus known to cause infrequent yet substantial human outbreaks around the Murray Valley region of south-eastern Australia, resulting in significant mortality.

Methods: The public health response to MVEV in Victoria in 2022-2023 included a climate informed pre-season risk assessment, and vector surveillance with mosquito trapping and laboratory testing for MVEV. Human cases were investigated to collect enhanced surveillance data, and human clinical samples were subject to serological and molecular testing algorithms to assess for co-circulating flaviviruses.

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While rodents are primary reservoirs of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), their role in Madariaga virus (MADV) transmission remains uncertain, particularly given their overlapping geographic distribution. This study explores the interplay of alphavirus prevalence, rodent diversity, and land use within Darien and Western Panama provinces. A total of three locations were selected for rodent sampling in Darien province: Los Pavitos, El Real de Santa Maria and Santa Librada.

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A diverse group of RNA viruses including Rabies, Polio, La Crosse, West Nile, Zika, Nipah, Eastern and Western equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, and tick-borne encephalitis viruses have the ability to gain access to and replicate in the central nervous system (CNS), causing severe neurological disease. Current treatment for these patients is generally limited to supportive care. To address the need for a generalizable antiviral, we utilized a strategy of mutagenesis to limit virus replication.

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Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are transmitted to humans primarily through the bites of infected mosquitoes or ticks, and in the continental United States, West Nile virus (WNV) is the leading cause of domestically acquired arboviral disease. Other arboviruses cause sporadic cases of disease as well as occasional outbreaks. This report summarizes 2021 surveillance data reported to CDC by U.

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Unlabelled: The magnitude and duration of vertebrate viremia are critical determinants of arbovirus transmission, geographic spread, and disease severity-yet, mechanisms determining arbovirus viremia levels are poorly defined. Previous studies have drawn associations between in vitro virion-glycosaminoglycan (GAG) interactions and in vivo clearance kinetics of virions from blood circulation. From these observations, it is commonly hypothesized that GAG-binding virions are rapidly removed from circulation due to ubiquitous expression of GAGs by vascular endothelial cells, thereby limiting viremia.

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Distribution of West Nile virus cases in horses reveals different spatiotemporal patterns in eastern and western Canada.

J Am Vet Med Assoc

October 2023

1Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health Research Unit (Groupe de Recherche en Épidémiologie des Zoonoses et Santé Publique) and Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.

Objective: West Nile virus (WNV) became notifiable in horses in 2003 in Canada and has been reported every year since. The objective of this study was to describe the spatiotemporal distribution of WNV in horses between 2003 and 2020 in Canada.

Animals: The 848 symptomatic and laboratory-confirmed WNV cases in horses reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency between 2003 and 2020.

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Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a relatively little-studied alphavirus that can cause devastating viral encephalitis, potentially leading to severe neurological sequelae or death. Although case numbers have historically been low, outbreaks have been increasing in frequency and scale since the 2000 s. It is critical to investigate EEEV evolutionary patterns, especially within human hosts, to understand patterns of emergence, host adaptation, and within-host evolution.

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Dynamics of eastern equine encephalitis virus during the 2019 outbreak in the Northeast United States.

Curr Biol

June 2023

Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address:

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) causes a rare but severe disease in horses and humans and is maintained in an enzootic transmission cycle between songbirds and Culiseta melanura mosquitoes. In 2019, the largest EEEV outbreak in the United States for more than 50 years occurred, centered in the Northeast. To explore the dynamics of the outbreak, we sequenced 80 isolates of EEEV and combined them with existing genomic data.

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Vaccine elicitation and structural basis for antibody protection against alphaviruses.

Cell

June 2023

Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address:

Alphaviruses are RNA viruses that represent emerging public health threats. To identify protective antibodies, we immunized macaques with a mixture of western, eastern, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus-like particles (VLPs), a regimen that protects against aerosol challenge with all three viruses. Single- and triple-virus-specific antibodies were isolated, and we identified 21 unique binding groups.

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Horses as Sentinels for the Circulation of Flaviviruses in Eastern-Central Germany.

Viruses

April 2023

Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Since 2018, autochthonous West Nile virus (WNV) infections have been regularly reported in eastern-central Germany. While clinically apparent infections in humans and horses are not frequent, seroprevalence studies in horses may allow the tracing of WNV and related flaviviruses transmission, such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Usutu virus (USUV), and consequently help to estimate the risk of human infections. Hence, the aim of our study was to follow the seropositive ratio against these three viruses in horses in Saxony, Saxony Anhalt, and Brandenburg and to describe their geographic distribution for the year 2021.

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Mapping the abundance of endemic mosquito-borne diseases vectors in southern Quebec.

BMC Public Health

May 2023

Department of Applied Geomatics, Centre d'Applications et de Recherches en Télédétection, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada.

Background: Climate change is increasing the dispersion of mosquitoes and the spread of viruses of which some mosquitoes are the main vectors. In Quebec, the surveillance and management of endemic mosquito-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus or Eastern equine encephalitis, could be improved by mapping the areas of risk supporting vector populations. However, there is currently no active tool tailored to Quebec that can predict mosquito population abundances, and we propose, with this work, to help fill this gap.

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Background: Eastern equine encephalitis virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus responsible for unpredictable outbreaks of severe neurologic disease in animals and humans. While most human infections are asymptomatic or clinically nonspecific, a minority of patients develops encephalitic disease, a devastating illness with a mortality rate of ≥30%. No treatments are known to be effective.

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Objectives: Viral infections of the central nervous system can be challenging to diagnose because of the wide range of causative agents and nonspecific histologic features. We sought to determine whether detection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), produced during active RNA and DNA viral infections, could be used to select cases for metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain tissue.

Methods: Eight commercially available anti-dsRNA antibodies were optimized for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the top antibody tested in a series of cases with confirmed viral infections (n = 34) and cases with inflammatory brain lesions of unclear etiology (n = 62).

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West Nile Virus-Induced Drop in Egg Production in Commercial Pekin Duck Breeders.

Avian Dis

March 2023

Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI 48910.

A sudden drop in egg production in commercial poultry flocks can be economically devastating, and rapid identification of the cause often requires a combined effort between the producer, veterinarian, and pathologist. In September 2019, a 35-wk-old commercial Pekin breeder duck flock in Indiana suffered a drop in egg production from 1700 to 1000 eggs daily (41.2% drop).

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