Wild terrestrial rainforest mammals as potential reservoirs for flaviviruses (yellow fever, dengue 2 and St Louis encephalitis viruses) in French Guiana

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 98; no. 7; pp. 409 - 412
• Main Authors: de Thoisy, B, Dussart, P, Kazanji, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2004; Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Elsevier; Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Wild - virology; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Arboviroses; Biological and medical sciences; Dengue; Dengue - epidemiology; Dengue - virology; Dengue Virus - isolation & purification; Disease Reservoirs - statistics & numerical data; Disease Reservoirs - veterinary; Encephalitis Virus, St. Louis - isolation & purification; Encephalitis, St. Louis - epidemiology; Encephalitis, St. Louis - virology; Flavivirus; Forest mammals; French Guiana; French Guiana - epidemiology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Life Sciences; Mammals - virology; Medical sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; Prevalence; St Louis encephalitis; Trees; Tropical viral diseases; Viral diseases; Virology; Yellow fever; Yellow Fever - epidemiology; Yellow Fever - virology; Yellow fever virus - isolation & purification; South America; French Guiana; America; Forest mammals; French Guiana; Flavivirus; Dengue; St Louis encephalitis; Yellow fever; Dengue 2; Nervous system diseases; Reservoir; Wild animal; Flavirus; Epidemiology; Cerebral disorder; Infection; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Viral disease; Arbovirus disease; Central nervous system disease; Tropical medicine; Saint Louis encephalitis
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2003.12.003

A serological survey for yellow fever virus (YFV), dengue 2 virus (DENV-2), and St Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) was undertaken using a seroneutralization technique in 27 wild forest mammal species (574 individuals) in French Guiana. Evidence of yellow fever infection was observed in 10 species, with high prevalence recorded in howler monkey (18%) and agouti (20%). Antibodies against DENV-2 and SLEV were found sporadically in various species. This potential host diversity and the range of potential vectors might explain the behaviour of the viruses in epidemic outbreaks and the emergence of periurban loci.