Rabies virus diversification in aerial and terrestrial mammals

Abstract

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic infection of the central nervous system of mammals and has been known to humans for millennia. The etiological agent, is a neurotropic RNA virus in the order Mononegavirales, family Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus. There are currently accepted to be two cycles for rabies transmission: the urban cycle and the sylvatic cycle. The fact that both cycles originated from a common RABV or lyssavirus ancestor and the adaptive divergence that occurred since then as this ancestor virus adapted to a wide range of fitness landscapes represented by reservoir species in the orders Carnivora and Chiroptera led to the emergence of the diverse RABV lineages currently found in the sylvatic and urban cycles. Here we study full genome phylogenies and the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of the RABVs in the sylvatic and urban cycles. Results show that there were differences between the nucleotide substitution rates per site per year for the same RABV genes maintained independently in the urban and sylvatic cycles. The results identify the most suitable gene for phylogenetic analysis, heterotachy among RABV genes and the TMRCA for the two cycles.

Rabies in Europe: An epidemiological and clinical update

“…When inoculated, RABV moves first centripetally from the site of infection to the CNS, and in a second moment it moves back peripherally [20], reaching salivary glands, and therefore possibly being transmitted to another animal. Maintenance of RABV is mostly guaranteed by wild animals ("sylvatic cycle"), but dogs represent the link to the so-called "urban cycle" [21]. In Europe, thanks to extensive dog vaccination, a change in prevailing from urban to sylvatic form occurred around the middle of the 20 th century.…”

From dogs to bats: Concerns regarding vampire bat-borne rabies in Brazil

“…Furthermore, the World Health Organization has implemented the global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030, focusing on the regional goal of eliminating rabies by strengthening programs to improve their surveillance and vaccination coverage for dogs in the areas most at risk [ 6 ]. Considering the growing importance of the sylvatic cycle where the RABV lineages are maintained in different independent epidemiologic cycles in the Americas by wild animals, particularly chiropterans [ 7 ], in this article, we will discuss the change in the epidemiological profile of rabies in Brazil, from dogs to bats as the main reservoirs of the disease today and how this impacts the surveillance and disease control actions.…”

Evolution and divergence of the genetic lineage of Rabies Virus Desmodus rotundus/Artibeus lituratus in São Paulo State

“…For a better understanding of the epidemiology of rabies transmitted to dogs and cats and the evolution of RABV in the bat species Artibeus lituratus and Desmodus rotundus, the study of viral genomes with a representative sample size is critical. Few RABV genome sequences with the Desmodus rotundus/Artibeus lituratus lineage have been characterized and are available in GenBank (Mochizuki et al 2011, Campos et al, 2020, Oliveira et al, 2020.…”