Isolation of Mayaro Virus from a Venezuelan Patient with Febrile Illness, Arthralgias, and Rash: Further Evidence of Regional Strain Circulation and Possible Long-Term Endemicity

• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0357
• Publication Date: 2019-10-08T07:00:46Z
• Authors: Gabriela M. Blohm; Marilianna C. Már...; John A. Lednicky; Tania S. Bonny; Carla Mavian; Marco Salemi; Lourdes Delgado-N...; John Glenn Morris; Alberto E. Paniz-...
• Keywords: Isolation

Fifty-two febrile patients living in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, were screened for arbovirus infection by virus culture during an outbreak of what was thought to be Zika infection. We report identification Mayaro (MAYV) on plasma from one patient, 18-year-old woman with acute illness, arthralgias, and psoriasiform rash. The strain sequenced found most closely related a 1999 French Guiana, which, turn, two 2014 strains Haiti. By contrast, previously reported outbreak-related MAYV sylvatic area approximately 80 miles where the case patient lived Peruvian isolates. groups show evidence having diverged genetically 100 years ago.