Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
In Brazil, West Nile virus (WNV) was first detected, in 2018, in horses with neurological disease.
AIM:
We report the first case of WNV infection in a horse from Ceará state and the complete genome sequence of an isolate from Espírito Santo state. Both infections occurred in 2019.
METHODS:
WNV was isolated from the tissues of a horse with neurological signs in Espírito Santo and sequenced by MiSeq.
RESULTS:
Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate belongs to lineage 1a, clustering with the NY99 strain, a strain that has not circulated in the USA since 2005.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that WNV has been silently circulating in Brazil for many years.
Keywords:
West nile virus; NY99 strain; Horses