Local persistence of novel regional variants of La Crosse virus in the Northeast USA
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Parasites & Vectors Open Access
RESEARCH
Local persistence of novel regional variants of La Crosse virus in the Northeast USA Gillian Eastwood1,2*, John J. Shepard1, Michael J. Misencik1, Theodore G. Andreadis1 and Philip M. Armstrong1
Abstract Background: La Crosse virus (LACV) (genus Orthobunyavirus, family Peribunyaviridae) is a mosquito-borne virus that causes pediatric encephalitis and accounts for 50–150 human cases annually in the USA. Human cases occur primarily in the Midwest and Appalachian regions whereas documented human cases occur very rarely in the northeastern USA. Methods: Following detection of a LACV isolate from a field-collected mosquito in Connecticut during 2005, we evaluated the prevalence of LACV infection in local mosquito populations and genetically characterized virus isolates to determine whether the virus is maintained focally in this region. Results: During 2018, we detected LACV in multiple species of mosquitoes, including those not previously associated with the virus. We also evaluated the phylogenetic relationship of LACV strains isolated from 2005–2018 in Connecticut and found that they formed a genetically homogeneous clade that was most similar to strains from New York State. Conclusion: Our analysis argues for local isolation and long-term persistence of a genetically distinct lineage of LACV within this region. We highlight the need to determine more about the phenotypic behavior of these isolates, and whether this virus lineage poses a threat to public health. Keywords: Arbovirus, Vector, Mosquito species, La Crosse virus, Pathogen persistence, Genetic distinction, Public health risk Background La Crosse virus (LACV) (genus Orthobunyavirus, family Peribunyaviridae) is a mosquito-borne virus, associated with clinical cases of pediatric encephalitis concentrated in the Midwest and Appalachian regions where it is also detected in mosquitoes during surveillance activities. Symptoms of La Crosse encephalitis include headache, fever, vomiting, and disorientation which may lead to seizure, coma, and death in severe cases [1]. Notable clusters of illness have occurred in Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and North Carolina with a substantial *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
socioeconomic burden associated [1–4]. In contrast, only one locally-acquired case of LACV has been reported in the northeastern USA during the last 20 years, occurring in upstate New York in 2010 and was non-neuroinvasive [5]. In addition, two human cases were reported in Rhode Island, during 2018 and 2019, but both were imported as these individuals had a travel history outside that state (Rhode Island DPH, personal communication). LACV was first detected in the New England region in a pool of mosquitoes collected in Connecticut in 2005 during statewide surveillance for arbovir
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