Downloaded from www.microbiologyresearch.org by IP: 54.145.26.59 On: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 13:55:03 Journal of General Virology (2002), 83, 223–228. Printed in Great Britain .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... SHORT COMMUNICATION Characterization of a vaccinia-like virus isolated in a Brazilian forest Fla  vio G. da Fonseca,† Giliane S. Trindade, Ricardo L. A. Silva, Cla  udio A. Bonjardim, Paulo C. P. Ferreira and Erna G. Kroon 1 Laborato  rio de Vı  rus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Cie  ncias Biolo  gicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Anto  nio Carlos, 6627, caixa postal 2496, cep : 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil The SPAn232 virus (SPAnv) was isolated from sentinel mice in the forest of Cotia, Sa  o Paulo, Brazil. It was grouped originally as a Cotia virus (CV) sample due to serological cross-reaction with the latter. However, SPAnv presented genetic charac- teristics that differed from CV and indicated that SPAnv is a member of the vaccinia virus (VV) subgroup. SPAnv showed a HindIII-digested DNA pattern similar to those of the WR and Lister strains of VV. Also, SPAnv presented genes homologous to the vaccinia growth factor, thymidine kinase and A- type inclusion (ATI) genes from VV. RFLP analysis of the SPAnv ATI homologous gene indicated that the virus belongs to the VV group. Nucleotide sequences from SPAnv genes showed up to 99 % similarity with the same genes from VV. Such a relationship was confirmed visually through the drawing of phylogenetic trees. The results point out the occurrence of a VV strain that is possibly in active circulation in the forests of Southeast Brazil. Few poxviruses are medically significant or are involved in human diseases. The most important poxvirus disease, small- pox, which is caused by variola virus, was eradicated worldwide during the 1970 and 1980 decades (Fenner et al., 1989). A number of poxviruses of veterinary importance have been studied also and include viruses that infect laboratory animals, pets, zoo animals and cattle. Many outbreaks come from emerging, naturally occurring poxviruses and some of them, such as monkeypox virus, may cause disease in humans (Jezek et al., 1986 ; Heymann et al., 1998). Moreover, the use of live vaccines in uncontrolled populations involves the risk of Author for correspondence : Erna Kroon. Fax 55 31 34436482. e-mail kroonemono.icb.ufmg.br † Present address : Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID, NIH, 4 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA recombination between wild poxviruses and these newly introduced viruses. Although this may be suitable for vaccine propagation, deleterious effects caused by the appearance of recombinants are also possible. To foresee the impact of such campaigns, the surveillance of naturally occurring poxviruses is essential and has been conducted in places like west and central Europe, following vaccination with the vaccinia virus (VV)–rabies vaccine (Boulanger et al., 1996 ; Sandvik et al., 1998). Very little is known about the occurrence and ecology of veterinary poxviruses in Brazil. Many occurrences are related to mousepox virus outbreaks in animal facilities, but most cases remain unpublished. Outbreaks of parapoxviruses in goat and sheep herds have been documented also (Mazur & Machado, 1989 ; Mazur et al., 2000). We reported the characterization of an orthopoxvirus related to VV, the BeAn 58058 virus (BAV), obtained from a wild rodent captured on the border of the Amazon rain forest (da Fonseca et al., 1998). Similarly, the isolation and characterization of a VV-like virus, named Cantagalo virus, was reported recently. This virus was isolated from cattle and, eventually, from humans in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Southeast Brazil (Damaso et al., 2000). Another poxvirus, the Cotia virus (CV), was isolated initially from sentinel mice in 1961, in Cotia county, Sa  o Paulo, an area of forest in the southeastern region of the country (Lopes et al., 1965). The virus has been re-isolated consistently and it was proposed to be a recombinant between leporipoxviruses and orthopoxviruses (Ueda et al., 1978, 1995 ; Esposito et al., 1980). The sample of SPAn232 virus (SPAnv) was obtained during a Brazilian government effort to survey rural regions with reported circulation of unknown viruses. The sample was isolated from sentinel mice that had been exposed in the Cotia forest. It was considered initially to be another CV isolate, as the virus presented serological cross reaction with the viruses isolated previously (unpublished results). We received SPAnv in our laboratory as a CV sample and intended to use the virus as a comparison tool to characterize BAV (da Fonseca et al., 1998). The serological relationship between these two viruses had been described more than two decades ago (Woodall, 1967 ; Ueda et al., 1978). However, after initial experiments, we 0001-7841  2002 SGM CCD