Molecular Epidemiology and Characterisation of Wesselsbron Virus and Co-circulating Alphaviruses in Sentinel Animals in South Africa 3 4 Human S.1, Gerdes T , Stroebel J. C. , and Venter M1, 2* 1 Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa; 2 National Health Laboratory Services, Tshwane Academic Division; 3 Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa; 4 Western Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory * Contact person: Dr M Venter. Senior lecturer, Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria/NHLS Tshwane Academic Division, P.O Box 2034, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa. Tel: +27 12 319 2660, Fax: +27 12 319 5550, e-mail:
[email protected],
[email protected] ABSTRACT Flavi and alphaviruses are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in both humans and animals worldwide. In order to determine the contribution of flavi and alphaviruses to unexplained neurological hepatic or fever cases in horses and other animals in South Africa, cases resembling these symptoms were screened for Flaviviruses (other than West Nile virus) and Alphaviruses. The results show that both Wesselsbron and alphaviruses (Sindbis-like and Middelburg virus) can contribute to neurological disease and fevers in horses. KEYWORDS Wesselsbron virus disease, Sindbis-like virus, Middelburg virus INTRODUCTION In South Africa (SA) the most important mosquito borne viruses are West Nile Virus (WNV) and Wesselsbron virus (Flaviviridae) and the Sindbis and Middelburg viruses (Togaviridae). These viruses are transmitted by Culex spp. (WNV and Sindbis virus) and Aedes spp. (Wesselsbron and Middelburg virus) mosquitoes. Wesselsbron (WSLB) virus was first discovered in 1955 in the Wesselsbron district of the Free State province in SA where it was isolated from an eight-day-old lamb (Weiss et al., 1956).