Phylogenetic Analysis of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Isolates from Florida

Gregory S. White Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Gregory S. White in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Brett E. Pickett Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Brett E. Pickett in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Elliot J. Lefkowitz Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Elliot J. Lefkowitz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Amelia G. Johnson Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Amelia G. Johnson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Christy Ottendorfer Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Christy Ottendorfer in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Lillian M. Stark Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Lillian M. Stark in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Thomas R. Unnasch Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, Florida

Search for other papers by Thomas R. Unnasch in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Florida has the highest degree of endemicity for eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) of any state in the United States and is the only state with year-round transmission of EEEV. To further understand the viral population dynamics in Florida, the genome sequence of six EEEV isolates from central Florida were determined. These data were used to identify the most polymorphic regions of the EEEV genome from viruses isolated in Florida. The sequence of these polymorphic regions was then determined for 18 additional Florida isolates collected in four geographically distinct regions over a 20-year period. Phylogenetic analyses of these data suggested a rough temporal association of the Florida isolates, but no clustering by region or by source of the isolate. Some clustering of northeastern isolates with Florida isolates was seen, providing support for the hypothesis that Florida serves as a reservoir for the periodic introduction of EEEV into the northeastern United States.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Thomas R. Unnasch, Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, 3720 Spectrum Boulevard, Suite 304, Tampa, FL 33612. E-mail: tunnasch@health.usf.edu

Financial support: This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Project # R01AI049724) to Thomas R. Unnasch.

Authors' addresses: Gregory S. White, Indio, CA, E-mail: gwhite@cvmvcd.org. Brett E. Pickett, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, E-mail: bpickett@uab.edu. Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, E-mail: elliotl@uab.edu. Amelia G. Johnson and Thomas R. Unnasch, Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, E-mails: ajohnso3@health.usf.edu and tunnasch@health.usf.edu. Christy Ottendorfer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, E-mail: cottendorfer@gmail.com. Lillian M. Stark, Tampa, FL, E-mail: lillian_stark@doh.state.fl.us.

  • 1.

    Sanmartin C, Trapido H, Barreto P, Lesmes CI, 1971. Isolations of Venezuelan and Eastern equine encephalomyelitis viruses from sentinel hamsters exposed in the Pacific lowlands of Colombia. Am J Trop Med Hyg 20: 469–473.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 2.

    Walder R, Suarez OM, Calisher CH, 1984. Arbovirus studies in southwestern Venezuela during 1973–1981. II. Isolations and further studies of Venezuelan and eastern equine encephalitis, Una, Itaqui, and Moju viruses. Am J Trop Med Hyg 33: 483–491.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 3.

    Morris CD, 1988. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis. Monath TP, ed. The Arboviruses: Epidemiology and Ecology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1–20.

  • 4.

    Scott TW, Weaver SC, 1989. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus: epidemiology and evolution of mosquito transmission. Adv Virus Res 37: 277–328.

  • 5.

    Cupp EW, Klingler K, Hassan HK, Viguers LM, Unnasch TR, 2003. Transmission of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in central Alabama. Am J Trop Med Hyg 68: 495–500.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 6.

    Cupp EW, Zhang D, Yue X, Cupp MS, Guyer C, Sprenger TR, Unnasch TR, 2004. Identification of reptilian and amphibian blood meals from mosquitoes in an eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus focus in central Alabama. Am J Trop Med Hyg 71: 272–276.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 7.

    Elvinger F, Liggett AD, Tang KN, Harrison LR, Cole JR Jr, Baldwin CA, Nessmith WB, 1994. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus infection in swine. J Am Vet Med Assoc 205: 1014–1016.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 8.

    Farrar MD, Miller DL, Baldwin CA, Stiver SL, Hall CL, 2005. Eastern equine encephalitis in dogs. J Vet Diagn Invest 17: 614–617.

  • 9.

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eastern Equine Encephalitis: Epidemiology and Geographic Distribution. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/easternequineencephalitis/tech/epi.html. Accessed May 10, 2010.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 10.

    Bigler WJ, Lassing EB, Buff EE, Prather EC, Beck EC, Hoff GL, 1976. Endemic eastern equine encephalomyelitis in Florida: a twenty-year analysis, 1955–1974. Am J Trop Med Hyg 25: 884–890.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 11.

    Armstrong PM, Andreadis TG, Anderson JF, Stull JW, Mores CN, 2008. Tracking eastern equine encephalitis virus perpetuation in the northeastern United States by phylogenetic analysis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 79: 291–296.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 12.

    Weaver SC, Hagenbaugh A, Bellew LA, Gousset L, Mallampalli V, Holland JJ, Scott TW, 1994. Evolution of alphaviruses in the eastern equine encephalomyelitis complex. J Virol 68: 158–169.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 13.

    Weaver SC, Scott TW, Rico-Hesse R, 1991. Molecular evolution of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in North America. Virology 182: 774–784.

  • 14.

    Young DS, Kramer LD, Maffei JG, Dusek RJ, Backenson PB, Mores CN, Bernard KA, Ebel GD, 2008. Molecular epidemiology of eastern equine encephalitis virus, New York. Emerg Infect Dis 14: 454–460.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 15.

    Librado P, Rozas J, 2009. DnaSP v5: a software for comprehensive analysis of DNA polymorphism data. Bioinformatics 25: 1451–1452.

  • 16.

    Swofford DL, 1998. PAUP: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (v 4.0). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.

  • 17.

    Guindon S, Gascuel O, 2003. A simple, fast, and accurate algorithm to estimate large phylogenies by maximum likelihood. Syst Biol 52: 696–704.

  • 18.

    Posada D, 2008. jModelTest: phylogenetic model averaging. Mol Biol Evol 25: 1253–1256.

  • 19.

    Huelsenbeck JP, Ronquist F, 2001. MRBAYES: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics 17: 754–755.

  • 20.

    Ronquist F, Huelsenbeck JP, 2003. MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19: 1572–1574.

  • 21.

    Graham SP, Hassan HK, Burkett-Cadena ND, Guyer C, Unnasch TR, 2009. Nestedness of ectoparasite-vertebrate host networks. PLoS ONE 4: e7873.

  • 22.

    Jacob BG, Burkett-Cadena ND, Luvall JC, Parcak SH, McClure CJ, Estep LK, Hill GE, Cupp EW, Novak RJ, Unnasch TR, 2010. Developing GIS-based eastern equine encephalitis vector-host models in Tuskegee, Alabama. Int J Health Geogr 9: 12.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 23.

    Arrigo NC, Adams AP, Weaver SC, 2010. Evolutionary patterns of eastern equine encephalitis virus in North versus South America suggest ecological differences and taxonomic revision. J Virol 84: 1014–1025.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 24.

    Weaver SC, Brault AC, Kang W, Holland JJ, 1999. Genetic and fitness changes accompanying adaptation of an arbovirus to vertebrate and invertebrate cells. J Virol 73: 4316–4326.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 25.

    Weaver SC, 2006. Evolutionary influences in arboviral disease. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 299: 285–314.

  • 26.

    Miralles R, Gerrish PJ, Moya A, Elena SF, 1999. Clonal interference and the evolution of RNA viruses. Science 285: 1745–1747.

  • 27.

    Hayes RO, Daniels JB, Maxfield HK, Wheeler RE, 1964. Field and laboratory studies on eastern encephalitis in warm- and cold-blooded vertebrates. Am J Trop Med Hyg 13: 595–606.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 28.

    Grenfell BT, Pybus OG, Gog JR, Wood JL, Daly JM, Mumford JA, Holmes EC, 2004. Unifying the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of pathogens. Science 303: 327–332.

  • 29.

    Blackmore CG, Stark LM, Jeter WC, Oliveri RL, Brooks RG, Conti LA, Wiersma ST, 2003. Surveillance results from the first West Nile virus transmission season in Florida, 2001. Am J Trop Med Hyg 69: 141–150.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 30.

    Ottendorfer CL, Ambrose JH, White GS, Unnasch TR, Stark LM, 2009. Isolation of genotype V St. Louis encephalitis virus in Florida. Emerg Infect Dis 15: 604–606.

  • 31.

    Reisen WK, Lothrop HD, Wheeler SS, Kennsington M, Gutierrez A, Fang Y, Garcia S, Lothrop B, 2008. Persistent West Nile virus transmission and the apparent displacement St. Louis encephalitis virus in southeastern California, 2003–2006. J Med Entomol 45: 494–508.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Past two years Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 151 127 8
Full Text Views 351 7 1
PDF Downloads 65 8 1
 
 
 
 
Affiliate Membership Banner
 
 
Research for Health Information Banner
 
 
CLOCKSS
 
 
 
Society Publishers Coalition Banner
Save