Exposure to non-endemic arboviruses (alphaviruses) in Costa Rica assessed from human samples collected in areas with contrasting levels of dengue endemicity.

ABSTRACT: Arboviruses represent a global public health challenge. The lack of diagnostic protocols and the presence of asymptomatic infections complicate confirmatory diagnostics. Alphaviruses, such as the equine encephalitis viruses, can cause severe outbreaks and are usually misdiagnosed as dengue. Thus, evidence for their circulation was assessed here. Plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) was used to compare sera collected during 2022-2023 from an area with high dengue endemicity (Hone Creek) with another with low endemicity (Great Metropolitan Area, GMA) to elucidate the putative alphavirus circulation and determine whether there were differences between the two areas. The screening results of PRNT50% against the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and the Eastern equine encephali

SUBMITTER: Valles-Morera A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879952 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature