Myrian Morato Duarte

Oropouche orthobunyavirus (OROV) is an emerging public health concern due to its expanding geographic range and increasing case numbers. In Brazil, 13,785 cases were confirmed in 2024, with an additional 3680 reported by January 2025, according to the Ministry of Health. Initially restricted to the Amazon region, OROV has recently been detected in new areas, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance and vector control strategies. While Culicoides paraensis is the primary vector, the potential role of other species in transmitting the currently circulating OROV strain in Brazil remains unclear. Here, we experimentally assessed the infectivity and dissemination of a recently isolated Oropouche orthobunyavirus (OROV) strain in two widespread mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus, collected from diverse regions of Brazil. Our results demonstrated that both mosquito species were refractory to oral infection, suggesting that natural transmission through these vectors is unlikely. However, in artificial systemic infection, Ae. aegypti showed viral replication and immune system activation, indicating its potential to support OROV replication under specific conditions. Additionally, to assess the potential impact of coinfection, we investigated whether Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus that naturally infects Ae. aegypti, could facilitate OROV infection dynamics in this mosquito species. Our results suggest that coinfection does not promote OROV oral infection. Furthermore, we examined whether OROV systemic infection induced an immune response in Ae aegypti. We analyzed the major immune response pathways—RNAi, Toll, IMD, and JAK-STAT—and observed that the RNAi pathway was the most strongly activated in response to OROV infection in Ae. aegypti. These findings highlight the importance of ongoing surveillance and further studies on OROV evolution, vector adaptation, and transmission dynamics, particularly in urban settings where vector populations and viral interactions may facilitate new epidemiological scenarios.

The first infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), occurred in December 2019. Within a single month, the disease reached other countries, spreading in a rapid and generalized manner worldwide to cause the COVID-19 pandemic. In Brazil, the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 38 million. This study was conducted to produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and investigate the immunogenic potential of synthetic peptides containing partial sequences of the main proteins (spike, membrane, and nucleocapsid proteins). In addition, we evaluated the ability of the antibodies to impair the interaction between the spike S1 protein and human ACE-2 protein, which is the main route of entry of the virus into host cells. By immunizing horses with synthetic peptides, we obtained hyperimmune sera with specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which were fragmented to release the F(ab’)2 portion that binds to the different SARS-CoV-2 proteins as a recombinant S1-protein and proteins from a viral lysate. The other F(ab’)2 samples also impaired the interaction between S1 protein and ACE-2 proteins, showing high potential to prevent viral spreading.

Brazilian descendants of former Black-slave (quilombola) communities have been predisposed to several zoonotic diseases due to social vulnerability, characterized by subsistence and close contact with livestock and companion animals. Accordingly, the present study has assessed anti-Coxiella burnetii antibodies in 200 individuals and 20 dogs from four quilombola communities located in Paraná State, southern Brazil. Serum samples were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using in-house and commercial diagnostic protocols, with analysis of seropositive titers and antibody type. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare seropositivity to C. burnetti with binary variables, with variables with three or more possible responses submitted to logistic regression. In total, 44/200 (22%; 95% CI 16.82–28.24) people tested positive, and 4.5% had titers higher than 128, indicating a recent onset of C. burnetii infection. Seropositive individuals were statistically associated with the Limitão community (p = 0.0013), urban workers as occupations (p = 0.0475), consumption of undercooked meat (p = 0.0159), and contact with animal abortion (p = 0.0276). No seropositivity association was found for age, sex, education, habit of entering forest areas, consumption of game meat, consumption of raw milk, flea and tick bites, dog contact, or history of female miscarriage. Only one of 20 dogs was seropositive with a titer of 128, probably related to an acute animal infection. Despite the prevalence here being higher than previous Brazilian reports, including with symptomatic populations, the results were within range for worldwide outbreaks and occupational risk populations. To the reader’s knowledge, this is the first human survey of Q fever in southern Brazil and should be considered a warning for C. burnetii in vulnerable populations, particularly Quilombola communities.

The emergence and continued geographic expansion of arboviruses and the growing number of infected people have highlighted the need to develop and improve multiplex methods for rapid and specific detection of pathogens. Sequencing technologies are promising tools that can help in the laboratory diagnosis of conditions that share common symptoms, such as pathologies caused by emerging arboviruses. In this study, we integrated nanopore sequencing and the advantages of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to develop a multiplex RT-PCR protocol for the detection of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and several orthoflaviviruses (such as dengue (Orthoflavivirus dengue), Zika (Orthoflavivirus zikaense), yellow fever (Orthoflavivirus flavi), and West Nile (Orthoflavivirus nilense) viruses) in a single reaction, which provides data for sequence-based differentiation of arbovirus lineages.

Background: Yellow fever outbreaks have re-emerged in Brazil during 2016-18, with mortality rates up to 30%. Although urban transmission has not been reported since 1942, the risk of re-urbanization of yellow fever is significant, as Aedes aegypti is present in most tropical and sub-tropical cities in the World and used to be the main vector in the past. The introgression of Wolbachia bacteria into Ae. aegypti mosquito populations is being trialed in several countries (www.worldmosquito.org)as a biocontrol method against dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Here, we studied the ability of Wolbachia to reduce the transmission potential of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes for yellow fever virus (YFV). Methods: Two recently isolated YFV (primate and human) were used to challenge field-derived wild-type and Wolbachia-infected (wMel +) Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. The YFV infection status was followed for 7, 14 and 21 days post-oral feeding (dpf). The YFV transmission potential of mosquitoes was evaluated via nano-injection of saliva into uninfected mosquitoes or by inoculation in mice. Results: We found that Wolbachia was able to significantly reduce the prevalence of mosquitoes with YFV infected heads and thoraces for both viral isolates. Furthermore, analyses of mosquito saliva, through indirect injection into naïve mosquitoes or via interferon-deficient mouse model, indicated Wolbachia was associated with profound reduction in the YFV transmission potential of mosquitoes (14dpf). Conclusions: Our results suggest that Wolbachia introgression could be used as a complementary strategy for prevention of urban yellow fever transmission, along with the human vaccination program.