Mayaro and Chikungunya; two alphaviruses with clinical and epidemiological similarities

Mayaro and Chikungunya; two alphaviruses with clinical and epidemiological similarities

In 1780, Philadelphia suffered an unusual outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, which years later was identified as dengue (1). One hundred years later, in Memphis, 1500 people died from yellow fever, which caused residents to abandoned the city (2). Even though these stories may seem anecdotes, they show how dramatic hemorrhagic arbovirus outbreaks can be.

The tropic host arboviruses such as Chikungunya (CHIKV), Dengue, and Zika (ZIKV); but there are others, such as Mayaro, Oropuche, and Bussuquara, among others, which have still not been studied in depth by the public health systems of our countries.

1. Anderson CR, Downs WG, Wattley GH, Ahin NW, Reese AA. Mayaro virus: a new human disease agent. II. Isolation from blood of patients in Trinidad, BW I. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1957; 6(6):1012-6.
3. Napoleão-Pego P, Gomes L, Provance-Jr D, De-Simone S. Mayaro Virus Disease. J Hum Virol Retrovirol 2014; 1(3):00018.
5. Slegers C, Keuter M, Günther S, Schmidt-Chanasit J, van der Ven A, de Mast Q. Persisting arthralgia due to Mayaro virus infection in a traveler from Brazil: Is there a risk for attendants to the 2014 FIFA World Cup?. J Clin Virol 2014; 60(3):317-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2014.04.020
7. Powers AM, Aguilar PV, Chandler LJ, Brault AC, Meakins TA, Watts D, et al. Genetic relationships among Mayaro and Una viruses suggest distinct patterns of transmission. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2006; 75(3):461-469.
9. Figueiredo MLGd, Figueiredo LTM. Emerging alphaviruses in the Americas: Chikungunya and Mayaro. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 2014; 47(6):677-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0246-2014
11. Halsey ES, Siles C, Guevara C, Vilcarromero S, Jhonston EJ, Ramal C, et al. Mayaro virus infection, Amazon basin region, Peru, 2010-2013. Emerg Infect Dis 2013; 19(11):1839. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1911.130777
13. Forshey B, Guevara C, Laguna-Torres V, Cespedes M, Vargas J, Gianella A, et al. Arboviral etiologies of acute febrile illnesses in Western South America, 2000-2007. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2010; 4(8):e787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000787
15. Mu-oz M, Navarro JC. Virus Mayaro: un arbovirus reemergente en Venezuela y Latinoamérica. Biomédica 2012; 32(2):288-302.
17. Schilte C, Staikowsky F, Couderc T, Madec Y, Carpentier F, Kassab S, et al. Chikungunya virus-associated long-term arthralgia: a 36-month prospective longitudinal study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2013;7(3):e2137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002137 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/annotation/850ee20f-2641-46ac-b0c6-ef4ae79b6de6
19. Long KC, Ziegler SA, Thangamani S, Hausser NL, Kochel TJ, Higgs S, et al. Experimental transmission of Mayaro virus by Aedes aegypti. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2011; 85(4):750-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0359
21. Groot H. Estudios sobre virus transmitidos por artrópodos en Colombia. Rev Acad Colomb Cien Exac Fis Nat 1964; 12:3-23.