Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Transmission Dynamics Within Its Endemic Range in Chiapas, Mexico
Lawrence H. Zhou,
Federico Valdez,
Irene Lopez Gonzalez,
Willian Freysser Urbina,
Ariadna Ocaña,
Cristell Tapia,
Armando Zambrano,
Edilberto Hernandez Solis,
Debra P. C. Peters,
Chad E. Mire,
Roberto Navarro,
Luis L. Rodriguez,
Kathryn A. Hanley
Affiliations
Lawrence H. Zhou
Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA
Federico Valdez
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Plum Island Animal Disease Center and National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
Irene Lopez Gonzalez
Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (SENASICA), Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Willian Freysser Urbina
Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)—Laboratorio de Biología Molecular LBS2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Ariadna Ocaña
Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)—Laboratorio de Biología Molecular LBS2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Cristell Tapia
Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)—Laboratorio de Biología Molecular LBS2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Armando Zambrano
Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)—Laboratorio de Biología Molecular LBS2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Edilberto Hernandez Solis
Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA)—Laboratorio de Biología Molecular LBS2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Ciudad de México 29020, Chiapas, Mexico
Debra P. C. Peters
Office of National Programs and the SCINet Big Data Program, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Chad E. Mire
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
Roberto Navarro
Comisión México-Estados Unidos para la Prevención de la Fiebre Aftosa y otras Enfermedades Exóticas de los Animales (CPA), Mexico City 64590, Mexico State, Mexico
Luis L. Rodriguez
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Plum Island Animal Disease Center and National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
Kathryn A. Hanley
Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA
Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), comprising vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus (VSNJV) and vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV), emerges from its focus of endemic transmission in Southern Mexico to cause sporadic livestock epizootics in the Western United States. A dearth of information on the role of potential arthropod vectors in the endemic region hampers efforts to identify factors that enable endemicity and predict outbreaks. In a two-year, longitudinal study at five cattle ranches in Chiapas, Mexico, insect taxa implicated as VSV vectors (blackflies, sandflies, biting midges, and mosquitoes) were collected and screened for VSV RNA, livestock vesicular stomatitis (VS) cases were monitored, and serum samples were screened for neutralizing antibodies. VS cases were reported during the rainy (n = 20) and post-rainy (n = 2) seasons. Seroprevalence against VSNJV in adult cattle was very high (75–100% per ranch) compared with VSIV (0.6%, all ranches). All four potential vector taxa were sampled, and VSNJV RNA was detected in each of them (11% VSNJV-positive of 874 total pools), while VSIV RNA was only detected in four pools of mosquitoes. Our findings indicate that VSNJV is the dominant serotype across our sampling sites with a variety of potential insect vectors involved in its transmission throughout the year. Although no livestock cases were reported in Chiapas during the dry season, VSNJV was detected in insects during this period, suggesting that mechanisms other than transmission from livestock support VSV endemicity.
