The first outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis in Vermont: outbreak description and phylogenetic relationships of the virus isolate

Kali D Saxton-Shaw; Jeremy P Ledermann; Joan L Kenney; Erica Berl; Alan C Graham; Joel M Russo; Ann M Powers; John-Paul Mutebi

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128712

The first outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis in Vermont: outbreak description and phylogenetic relationships of the virus isolate

PLoS One. 2015 Jun 4;10(6):e0128712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128712. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Kali D Saxton-Shaw¹, Jeremy P Ledermann¹, Joan L Kenney¹, Erica Berl², Alan C Graham³, Joel M Russo⁴, Ann M Powers¹, John-Paul Mutebi¹

Affiliations

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.
² Vermont Department of Health, Burlington, Vermont, United States of America.
³ Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Waterbury, Vermont, United States of America.
⁴ United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS VS, Montpelier, Vermont, United States of America.

Abstract

The first known outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Vermont occurred on an emu farm in Rutland County in 2011. The first isolation of EEE virus (EEEV) in Vermont (VT11) was during this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that VT11 was most closely related to FL01, a strain from Florida isolated in 2001, which is both geographically and temporally distinct from VT11. EEEV RNA was not detected in any of the 3,905 mosquito specimens tested, and the specific vectors associated with this outbreak are undetermined.

MeSH terms

Animals
Culicidae / virology
Disease Outbreaks / veterinary*
Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine / genetics
Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine / isolation & purification*
Encephalomyelitis, Eastern Equine / epidemiology*
Encephalomyelitis, Eastern Equine / virology*
Genome, Viral
Geography
Horses / virology*
Likelihood Functions
Phylogeny*
Vermont / epidemiology

Grants and funding

This work was conducted doing the normal duties at the CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the state of Vermont. The authors received no specific funds for this work. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.