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Viruses 2022 Jun 2;14(6). Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.

Early growth response 1 (EGR1) is an immediate early gene and transcription factor previously found to be significantly upregulated in human astrocytoma cells infected with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV). The loss of EGR1 resulted in decreased cell death but had no significant impact on viral replication. Here, we extend these studies to determine the impacts of EGR1 on gene expression following viral infection. Read More

Viruses 2022 May 30;14(6). Epub 2022 May 30.

Department for Horses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

West Nile virus (WNV) infections were first detected in Germany in 2018, but information about WNV seroprevalence in horses is limited. The study's overall goal was to gather information that would help veterinarians, horse owners, and veterinary-, and public health- authorities understand the spread of WNV in Germany and direct protective measures. For this purpose, WNV seroprevalence was determined in counties with and without previously registered WNV infections in horses, and risk factors for seropositivity were estimated. Read More

Lancet Infect Dis 2022 May 11. Epub 2022 May 11.

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

Background: Western (WEEV), eastern (EEEV), and Venezuelan (VEEV) equine encephalitis viruses are mosquito-borne pathogens classified as potential biological warfare agents for which there are currently no approved human vaccines or therapies. We aimed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an investigational trivalent virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine, western, eastern, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (WEVEE) VLP, composed of WEEV, EEEV, and VEEV VLPs.

Methods: The WEVEE VLP vaccine was evaluated in a phase 1, randomised, open-label, dose-escalation trial at the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2022 05 9;16(5):e0010081. Epub 2022 May 9.

Virology Division, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is mosquito-borne virus that produces fatal encephalitis in humans. We recently conducted a first of its kind study to investigate EEEV clinical disease course following aerosol challenge in a cynomolgus macaque model utilizing the state-of-the-art telemetry to measure critical physiological parameters. Here, we report the results of a comprehensive pathology study of NHP tissues collected at euthanasia to gain insights into EEEV pathogenesis. Read More

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022 May 6;71(18):628-632. Epub 2022 May 6.

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of infected mosquitoes and ticks. West Nile virus (WNV), mainly transmitted by Culex species mosquitos, is the leading cause of domestically acquired arboviral disease in the United States (1). Other arboviruses cause sporadic cases of disease and occasional outbreaks. Read More

ACS Med Chem Lett 2022 Apr 14;13(4):546-553. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States.

Venezuelan and eastern equine encephalitis viruses are disease-causing, neuropathic pathogens with no approved treatment options in humans. While expanding the pharmacophoric model of antialphaviral amidines prepared via a quinazolinone rearrangement, we discovered that diamine-treated, 2-dihalomethylquinolinones unexpectedly afforded ring-expanded piperazine-fused benzodiazepinones. Notably, this new chemotype (19 examples) showed potent, submicromolar inhibition of virus-induced cell death, >7-log reduction of viral yield, and tractable structure-activity relationships across both viruses. Read More

PLoS One 2022 8;17(4):e0266840. Epub 2022 Apr 8.

Confirmatory Laboratory, Hungarian National Blood Transfusion Service, Budapest, Hungary.

In Hungary, West Nile virus (WNV) has been responsible for 459 laboratory confirmed human cases between 2004 and 2019, while the first human Usutu virus (USUV) infection was confirmed only in 2018. A comprehensive serosurvey was conducted among blood donors to assess the WNV and USUV seroprevalence in 2019, one year after the largest European WNV epidemic. Altogether, 3005 plasma samples were collected and screened for WNV and USUV specific Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Read More

Structure 2022 Jun 6;30(6):828-839.e6. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla FI-40014, Finland; Department of Chemistry, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla FI-40014, Finland. Electronic address:

Class I SH3 domain-binding motifs generally comply with the consensus sequence [R/K]xØPxxP, the hydrophobic residue Ø being proline or leucine. We have studied the unusual Ø = Ala-specificity of SNX9 SH3 by determining its complex structure with a peptide present in eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) nsP3. The structure revealed the length and composition of the n-Src loop as important factors determining specificity. Read More

Vaccines (Basel) 2022 Mar 4;10(3). Epub 2022 Mar 4.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 334, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Vaccination against infectious diseases is a cornerstone of veterinary medicine in the prevention of disease transmission, illness severity, and often death in animals. In North American equine medicine, equine vaccines protecting against tetanus, rabies, Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, and West Nile are core vaccines as these have been classified as having a heightened risk of mortality, infectiousness, and endemic status. Some guidelines differ from the label of vaccines, to improve the protection of patients or to decrease the unnecessary administration to reduce potential side effects. Read More

Curr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis 2021 26;1:100064. Epub 2021 Nov 26.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a rare but lethal mosquito-borne zoonotic disease. Recent years have seen incursion into new areas of the USA, and in 2019 the highest number of human cases in decades. Due to the low detection rate of EEE, previous studies were unable to quantify large-scale and recent EEE ecological dynamics. Read More

J Am Mosq Control Assoc 2022 03;38(1):7-18

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a highly pathogenic alphavirus that causes periodic outbreaks in the eastern USA. Mosquito abatement programs are faced with various challenges with surveillance and control of EEEV and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Environmental sampling of mosquito populations can be technically complex. Read More

J Am Mosq Control Assoc 2022 03;38(1):1-6

To mitigate the effects of West Nile virus (WNV) and eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), the state of Florida conducts a serosurveillance program that uses sentinel chickens operated by mosquito control programs at numerous locations throughout the state. Coop locations were initially established to detect St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), and coop placement was determined based on the location of human SLEV infections that occurred between 1959 and 1977. Read More

Viruses 2022 01 28;14(2). Epub 2022 Jan 28.

Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an Alphavirus in the Togaviridae family of positive-strand RNA viruses. The viral genome of positive-strand RNA viruses is infectious, as it produces infectious virus upon introduction into a cell. VEEV is a select agent and samples containing viral RNA are subject to additional regulations due to their infectious nature. Read More

Viruses 2022 01 28;14(2). Epub 2022 Jan 28.

Sección Virología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay.

Alphaviruses () are arthropod-borne viruses responsible for several emerging diseases, maintained in nature through transmission between hematophagous arthropod vectors and susceptible vertebrate hosts. Although bats harbor many species of viruses, their role as reservoir hosts in emergent zoonoses has been verified only in a few cases. With bats being the second most diverse order of mammals, their implication in arbovirus infections needs to be elucidated. Read More

J Gen Virol 2022 02;103(2)

Center for Vaccine Research, Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.

Arboviruses are medically important arthropod-borne viruses that cause a range of diseases in humans from febrile illness to arthritis, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever. Given their transmission cycles, these viruses face the challenge of replicating in evolutionarily divergent organisms that can include ticks, flies, mosquitoes, birds, rodents, reptiles and primates. Furthermore, their cell attachment receptor utilization may be affected by the opposing needs for generating high and sustained serum viremia in vertebrates such that virus particles are efficiently collected during a hematophagous arthropod blood meal but they must also bind sufficiently to cellular structures on divergent organisms such that productive infection can be initiated and viremia generated. Read More

Nature 2022 02 20;602(7897):475-480. Epub 2021 Dec 20.

Department of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Alphaviruses, like many other arthropod-borne viruses, infect vertebrate species and insect vectors separated by hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history. Entry into evolutionarily divergent host cells can be accomplished by recognition of different cellular receptors in different species, or by binding to receptors that are highly conserved across species. Although multiple alphavirus receptors have been described, most are not shared among vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Read More

Can Vet J 2021 12;62(12):1298-1303

Ocean State Veterinary Specialists, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, USA.

A 5-month-old puppy was evaluated for rapidly progressive neurologic signs and pyrexia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed multifocal meningoencephalitis with transtentorial and foramen magnum herniation. A cerebrospinal fluid tap revealed highly cellular fluid, and the puppy was euthanized. Read More

Neurol Clin Pract 2021 Oct;11(5):e714-e721

Department of Neurology (M. Montalvo), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Rhode Island Hospital (DA, L. Mahmoud), Providence; and Brown University (M. McGary, KB, L. Mermel, BT, LW), Providence, RI.

Purpose Of Review: To describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and outcomes of 4 confirmed Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) cases and a review of the literature.

Recent Findings: There was a sharp rise in the number of EEE cases in the United States in 2019, with 38 confirmed cases and 15 deaths. Our institution cared for 10% of patients with neuroinvasive EEE nationwide. Read More

Viruses 2021 11 5;13(11). Epub 2021 Nov 5.

Defence Research and Development Canada, Suffield Research Centre, Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8K6, Canada.

The three encephalitic alphaviruses, namely, the Venezuelan, eastern, and western equine encephalitis viruses (VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV), are classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as biothreat agents. Currently, no licensed medical countermeasures (MCMs) against these viruses are available for humans. Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are fast-acting and highly effective MCMs for use in both pre- and post-exposure settings against biothreat agents. Read More

Insects 2021 Oct 26;12(11). Epub 2021 Oct 26.

Centro de Investigaciones Regionales, Laboratorio de Arbovirologia, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Merida 97069, Yucatan, Mexico.

() is a mosquito native to Southeast Asia. Currently, it has a wide distribution in America, where natural infection with arboviruses of medical and veterinary importance has been reported. In spite of their importance in the transmission of endemic arbovirus, the basic information of parameters affecting their vectorial capacity is poorly investigated. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):27-40

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is an emerging public health concern in the state of Michigan. Although Michigan has one of the highest incidence rates of EEE in the United States, much of the information known about cases in humans, equines, and other animals residing in Michigan is unpublished. This article summarizes such information and explores spatial trends in the historic distribution of EEE in Michigan. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):41-48

Center for Global Health Infectious Disease Research, University of South Florida, 3720 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 304, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus) is a mosquito-borne pathogen found in eastern North America that causes severe disease in humans and horses. The mosquito Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae) is the primary enzootic vector of EEEV throughout eastern North America while several mosquito species belonging to diverse genera serve as bridge vectors. The ecology of EEEV differs between northern and southern foci, with respect to phenology of outbreaks, important vertebrate hosts, and bridge vector species. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):20-26

Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; Family Togaviridae), is an endemic pathogen first isolated in 1933 with distribution primarily in the eastern US and Canada. The virus has caused periodic outbreaks in both humans and equines along the eastern seaboard and through the southern coastal states. While the outbreaks caused by EEEV have been sporadic and varied geographically since the discovery of the virus, it has continued to expand its range moving into the Midwest states as well. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):14-19

The Arbovirus Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Slingerlands, NY.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) primarily maintained in an enzootic cycle between Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) and passerine birds. EEEV, which has the highest reported case- fatality rate among arbovirus in the Americas, is responsible for sporadic outbreaks in the Eastern and Midwest United States. Infection is associated with severe neurologic disease and mortality in horses, humans, and other vertebrate hosts. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):49-55

Vector-borne Disease Laboratory, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, 81 Research Drive, Scarborough, ME 04074, USA.

Vertebrate surveillance for eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) activity usually focuses on three types of vertebrates: horses, passerine birds, and sentinel chicken flocks. However, there is a variety of wild vertebrates that are exposed to EEEV infections and can be used to track EEEV activity. In 2009, we initiated a pilot study in northern New England, United States, to evaluate the effectiveness of using wild cervids (free-ranging white-tailed deer and moose) as spatial sentinels for EEEV activity. Read More

J Med Entomol 2022 01;59(1):1-13

Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, P.O. Box 1106. 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06504, USA.

In the current review, we examine the regional history, ecology, and epidemiology of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) to investigate the major drivers of disease outbreaks in the northeastern United States. EEEV was first recognized as a public health threat during an outbreak in eastern Massachusetts in 1938, but historical evidence for equine epizootics date back to the 1800s. Since then, sporadic disease outbreaks have reoccurred in the Northeast with increasing frequency and northward expansion of human cases during the last 20 yr. Read More

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2021 12 18;21(12):961-972. Epub 2021 Oct 18.

Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Understanding vector-host interactions is crucial for evaluating the role of mosquito species in enzootic cycling and epidemic/epizootic transmission of arboviruses, as well as assessing vertebrate host contributions to maintenance and amplification in different virus foci. To investigate blood-feeding pattern of , engorged mosquitoes were collected on a weekly basis at 50 sites throughout Suffolk, Virginia, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light traps, BG-Sentinel traps, and modified Reiter gravid traps. Vertebrate hosts of mosquitoes were identified by amplifying and sequencing portions of the mitochondrial gene. Read More

Virus Res 2021 12 13;306:198598. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/National Center of Gerontology, P. R. China; Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China; Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P. R. China. Electronic address:

Background: Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), Hendra virus (HeV), Nipah virus (NiV), Yellow fever virus (YFV), West Nile virus (WNV), Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) have been detected in travelers returning to China and potentially pose a serious threat to public health. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) plays an important role in the detection of these viruses. Although these viruses are not mainly prevalent in China, occasionally imported cases have been reported with the increase in population mobility and entry-exit activities. Read More

IDCases 2021 28;26:e01288. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Department of Infectious Disease, MCHS NWWI, USA.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is a rare and very serious arbovirus that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. When symptomatic, patients with this condition are typically seriously ill and the fatality rate is high. We present a fatal case of EEE that exhibited classic symptoms and findings. Read More

Virology 2022 01 28;565:13-21. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Center for Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) can cause fatal encephalitis in humans and equids. Some MAbs to the E1 glycoprotein are known to be cross-reactive, weakly neutralizing in vitro but can protect from disease in animal models. We investigated the mechanism of neutralization of VEEV infection by the broadly cross-reactive E1-specific MAb 1A4B-6. Read More