Doornum, G.J.J. (Gerard) van

Genderen, P.J.J. (Perry) van

Hassing, R.J. (Robert)

Leparc-Goffart, I. (Isabelle)

Tolou, H.

Hassing, Robert-Jan

Leparc-Goffart, I

Tolou, H

Doornum, Gerard

van Genderen, PJ

EUR Research Repository

Cross-reactivity of antibodies to viruses belonging to the Semliki forest serocomplex

Erasmus University Digital Repository

1www.eurosurveillance.orgLettersCross-reactivity of antibodies to viruses belonging to the Semliki forest serocomplexR J Hassing1,2, I Leparc-Goffart3, H Tolou3, G van Doornum4, P J van Genderen (p.van.genderen@havenziekenhuis.nl)11. Department of Internal Medicine, Harbour Hospital and Institute for Tropical Diseases, Rotterdam, the Netherlands2. Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Hospital Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands3. Institute of Tropical Medicine, Virology Unit, Army Biomedical Research Institute, Marseille, France4. Department of Virology, Erasmus University Hospital Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the NetherlandsCitation style for this article: Citation style for this article: Hassing RJ, Leparc-Goffart I, Tolou H, van Doornum G, van Genderen PJ. Cross-reactivity of antibodies to viruses belonging to the Semliki forest serocomplex. Euro Surveill. 2010;15(23):pii=19588. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19588This article has been published on 10 June 2010To the editor: We read with interest the paper by Receveur et al. describing an infection with Mayaro virus in a French traveller returning from the Amazon region [1]. We agree that this communication is of clini-cal relevance because Mayaro virus infections are rela-tively unknown and easily misdiagnosed on clinical grounds as dengue fever.Although Mayaro virus has been reported to be a mem-ber of the Semliki forest serocomplex [2] – clustering with old world  alphaviruses such as Chikungunya virus, with their clinical manifestations of fever and arthralgias – Mayaro virus infections are as yet con-fined to South America. The other alphaviruses that occur in South America belong to the so-called new world alphaviruses such as eastern equine encephalitis virus, western equine encephalitis virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. The clinical manifestations are characterised by central nervous system manifes-tations but not by arthralgias.Small outbreaks of Mayaro virus infection have been registered in areas near tropical rain forests in vari-ous South American countries including Brazil and Suriname [3] but infections outside these endemic foci are rare, particularly in travellers. In 1966, Metselaar described a Mayaro virus infection in a son of a Dutch military man, living in the Coronie District in Suriname [4]. In January 2008, we diagnosed Mayaro virus infec-tion in a Dutch couple who presented with intractable arthralgias after visiting the interior of Suriname (man-uscript submitted). In serological tests using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we detected cross-reactivity of antibodies for Chikungunya virus and Mayaro virus. As mentioned earlier, both alphavi-ruses belong to the same antigenic complex, the Semliki forest serocomplex. Seroneutralization tests were therefore necessary to demonstrate the specifi-city of the antibody for Mayaro virus. Receveur et al. seem not to have used these seroneutralization tests. Currently, cross-reactivity in serological tests does not seem to be of major importance for diagnosis since Chikungunya viral infections do not occur in South America. However, with the increase of international travel and the spread of potential vectors as a conse-quence of global warming and intensification of trade, infections caused by arthropod-borne viruses are likely to expand on a global scale and may result in over-lapping regions of endemicity. This cross-reactivity between alphaviruses should be borne in mind, in par-ticular when ELISA is used for serological diagnosis of the causative virus. Additional seroneutralisation tests should be carried out to establish the virus specificity of the antibody. References1. Receveur MC, Grandadam M, Pistone T, Malvy D. Infection with Mayaro virus in a French traveller returning from the Amazon region, Brazil, January, 2010. Euro Surveill. 2010;15(18). pii: 19563. Available from: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19563 2. Calisher CH, el-Kafrawi AO, Al-Deen Mahmud MI, Travassos da Rosa AP, Bartz CR, Brummer-Korvenkontio M, et al. Complex-specific immunoglobulin M antibody patterns in humans infected with alphaviruses. J Clin Microbiol. 1986;23(1):155-9. 3. Azevedo RS, Silva EV, Carvalho VL, Rodrigues SG, Nunes-Neto JP, Monteiro H, et al. Mayaro fever virus, Brazilian Amazon. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009;15(11):1830-2. 4. Metselaar D. Isolation of arboviruses of group A and group C in Surinam. Trop Geogr Med. 1966;18(2):137-42.

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Cross-reactivity of antibodies to viruses belonging to the Semliki forest serocomplex

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