TY - JOUR AU - Estrada-Franco, José G. AU - Navarro-Lopez, Roberto AU - Freier, Jerome E. AU - Cordova, Dionicio AU - Clements, Tamara AU - Moncayo, Abelardo AU - Kang, Wenli AU - Gomez-Hernandez, Carlos AU - Rodriguez-Dominguez, Gabriela AU - Ludwig, George V. AU - Vasilakis, Nikos T1 - Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus, Southern Mexico T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2004 VL - 10 IS - 12 SP - 2113 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Equine epizootics of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) occurred in the southern Mexican states of Chiapas in 1993 and Oaxaca in 1996. To assess the impact of continuing circulation of VEE virus (VEEV) on human and animal populations, serologic and viral isolation studies were conducted in 2000–2001 in Chiapas State. Human serosurveys and risk analyses indicated long-term endemic transmission of VEEV among villages with seroprevalence levels of 18% to 75% and that medical personnel had a high risk for VEEV exposure. Seroprevalence in wild animals suggested cotton rats as possible reservoir hosts in the region. Virus isolations from sentinel animals and genetic characterizations of these strains indicated continuing circulation of a subtype IE genotype, which was isolated from equines during the recent VEE outbreaks. These data indicate long-term enzootic and endemic VEEV circulation in the region and continued risk for disease in equines and humans. KW - encephalitis virus KW - Venezuelan equine encephalitis KW - arboviruses KW - alphavirus KW - seroprevalence KW - research KW - Mexico DO - 10.3201/eid1012.040393 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/12/04-0393_article ER - End of Reference