Epizootics due to Yellow Fever Virus in São Paulo State, Brazil: viral dissemination to new areas (2016–2017)

Beginning in late 2016 Brazil faced the worst outbreak of Yellow Fever in recent decades, mainly located in southeastern rural regions of the country. In the present study we characterize the Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) associated with this outbreak in São Paulo State, Brazil. Blood or tissues collected from 430 dead monkeys and 1030 pools containing a total of 5,518 mosquitoes were tested for YFV by quantitative RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and indirect immunofluorescence. A total of 67 monkeys were YFV-positive and 3 pools yielded YFV following culture in a C6/36 cell line. Analysis of five nearly full length genomes of YFV from collected samples was consistent with evidence that the virus associated with the São Paulo outbreak originated in Minas Gerais. The phylogenetic analysis also showed that strains involved in the 2016–2017 outbreak in distinct Brazilian states (i.e., Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo) intermingled in maximum-likelihood and Bayesian trees. Conversely, the strains detected in São Paulo formed a monophyletic cluster, suggesting that they were local-adapted. The finding of YFV by RT-PCR in five Callithrix monkeys who were all YFV-negative by histopathology or immunohistochemistry suggests that this YFV lineage circulating in Sao Paulo is associated with different outcomes in Callithrix when compared to other monkeys.