Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Diversity in Massachusetts Patients, 1938-2020.

ABSTRACT: Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a relatively little-studied alphavirus that can cause devastating viral encephalitis, potentially leading to severe neurological sequelae or death. Although case numbers have historically been low, outbreaks have been increasing in frequency and scale since the 2000 s. It is critical to investigate EEEV evolutionary patterns, especially within human hosts, to understand patterns of emergence, host adaptation, and within-host evolution. To this end, we obtained formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from discrete brain regions from five contemporary (2004-2020) patients from Massachusetts, confirmed the presence of EEEV RNA by in situ hybridization (ISH) staining, and sequenced viral genomes. We additionally sequenced RNA from scrapings of

SUBMITTER: Langsjoen RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10397450 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature