Working Paper Article Version 1 This version is not peer-reviewed

Flaviviruses Infections in Neotropical Primates Suggest Long-Term Circulation of Saint Louis Encephalitis and Dengue Virus Spillback in Socioeconomic Regions With High Numbers of Dengue Human Cases in Costa Rica

Version 1 : Received: 4 November 2020 / Approved: 5 November 2020 / Online: 5 November 2020 (18:35:56 CET)

How to cite: Chaves, A.; Piche-Ovares, M.; Corrales, E.; Suzán, G.; Moreira-Soto, A.; Gutiérrez-Espeleta, G.A. Flaviviruses Infections in Neotropical Primates Suggest Long-Term Circulation of Saint Louis Encephalitis and Dengue Virus Spillback in Socioeconomic Regions With High Numbers of Dengue Human Cases in Costa Rica. Preprints 2020, 2020110222 Chaves, A.; Piche-Ovares, M.; Corrales, E.; Suzán, G.; Moreira-Soto, A.; Gutiérrez-Espeleta, G.A. Flaviviruses Infections in Neotropical Primates Suggest Long-Term Circulation of Saint Louis Encephalitis and Dengue Virus Spillback in Socioeconomic Regions With High Numbers of Dengue Human Cases in Costa Rica. Preprints 2020, 2020110222

Abstract

Arthropod-borne viruses belonging to the flavivirus genus possess an enormous relevance in public health. Neotropical non-human primates (NPs) have been proposed to be infected more frequently with flaviviruses due to their arboreal and diurnal habits, their genetic similarity to humans and their relative closeness to humans. However, the only known flavivirus in America that is maintained by sylvatic cycles involving NPs is Yellow Fever virus (YFV), and the NPs role as potential hosts of flaviviruses is still unknown. Here, we examined flavivirus exposure in 86 free range and captive NPs of Costa Rica to evaluate their involvement in flavivirus transmission cycles and their potential as flavivirus hosts. We used a highly-specific micro plaque reduction neutralization test (micro-PRNT) to determine the presence of antibodies against YFV, Dengue virus 1-4 (DENV), Zika virus, West Nile Virus (WNV) and Saint Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV). We found evidence of seropositive NPs to DENV-1 8.2% (homotypic –3/86, heterotypic – 4/86), SLEV 15.1% (homotypic – 10/86, heterotypic – 2/86), WNV 2.3% (homotypic – 2/86) and 8.1% (7/86) undetermined Flavivirus species. No antibodies against YFV or ZIKV were found. This work provides compelling serological evidence of exposure in NPs of flaviviruses associated with urban cycles, i.e. DENV, and confirms decades of circulation of SLEV in the same environments. Also, the range of years of sampling and the socioeconomic region was statistically significant for the presence of Dengue and Flavivirus undetermined seropositive individuals, respectively. Both the years and socioeconomic regions with greater seroprevalence coincide with the years and socioeconomic regions with high numbers of Dengue human cases for the country. Our work suggests bidirectional? circulation of different flaviviruses between humans and wildlife with public health importance and underscores the necessity of further surveillance for flaviviruses in the humans/wildlife interface in Central America.

Keywords

Neotropical non-human primates; serology; sylvatic cycles; Flavivirus; Dengue Virus; Saint Louis Encephalitis Virus; West Nile Virus

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.