frwhe.blogg.se

Mosquito-borne viruses such as chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV), and Zika (ZIKV) viruses have rapidly spread across the globe in recent years, causing large-scale outbreaks in countries of the Southern Hemisphere including Brazil. Our results show that CHIKV, DENV-1–4, and ZIKV followed a similar path prior to their first introductions into the mainland Americas, underscoring the need for systematic arboviral surveillance at major entry points of human population movement between countries such as airports and seaports. Here, we applied robust phylogenomic methods to trace the evolutionary dynamics of these arboviruses with special focus on Brazil, the epicenter of these triple epidemics. Through the analyses of the sequences of arbovirus genomes collected at different locations over time, we identified patterns of accumulated mutations, being able to trace routes of dispersion of these viruses. Understanding how the virus circulates and moves from one country to another is of paramount importance to assist government and health officials in anticipating future epidemics, as well as to take steps to help control or mitigate the spread of the virus. Epidemics caused by arboviruses continue to cause socioeconomic burden globally, particularly in countries where vector control is difficult due to climatic or infrastructure factors.

Knowledge about the entry routes and geographic expansion of these arboviruses to the mainland Americas remain incomplete and controversial. The rapid worldwide spread of chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV), and Zika (ZIKV) viruses have raised great international concern.