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Volume 31, Number 5—May 2025
Dispatch

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Peruvian Amazon, 2020

Marta Piche-Ovares, Maria Paquita García Mendoza, Andres Moreira-Soto, Carlo Fischer, Sebastian Brünink, Maribel Dana Figueroa-Romero, Nancy Susy Merino-Sarmiento, Adolfo Ismael Marcelo-Ñique, Edward Málaga-Trillo, Miladi Gatty-Nogueira, César Augusto Cabezas Sanchez, and Jan Felix DrexlerComments to Author 
Author affiliation: Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany (M. Piche-Ovares, A. Moreira-Soto, C. Fischer, S. Brünink, J.F. Drexler); Instituto Nacional de Salud, Lima, Peru (M.P. García Mendoza, M.D. Figueroa-Romero, N.S. Merino-Sarmiento, A.I. Marcelo-Ñique, C.A. Cabezas Sanchez); Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica (A. Moreira-Soto); Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima (E. Málaga-Trillo); Laboratorio de Refencia Regional en Salud Publica, Loreto, Peru (M. Gatty-Nogueira); German Centre for Infection Research, associated partner of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin (J.F. Drexler)

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Figure 2

Phylogenetic and time scale analysis of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) from study of Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Peruvian Amazon, 2020. A, B) Phylogenetic analyses. A) relationships of VEEV from Peru (Peru 2020 and Peru 2021, depicted in red) and members of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis antigenic complex, based on the concatenated coding sequence (11,629 nt). Madariaga virus was included as an outgroup. B) Phylogenetic relationships of Peru 2020 and Peru 2021 (shown in red) and members of VEEV subtype ID Panama/Peru lineage, based on a partial sequence of the envelope glycoprotein precursor (PE2, 817 nt). Phylogenetic trees were constructed using MrBayes 3.2.6 (https://github.com/NBISweden/MrBayes/releases/tag/v3.2.6). GenBank accession number, country, and collection year are indicated for each sequence. Posterior probability ≥0.80 is indicated as a black circle in the node. C) Time to most recent common ancestor of VEEV identified in this study (Peru 2020 and Peru 2021, shown in red) and members of the ID and IAB subtypes, by number of years ago, calculated using BEAST 1.7.1 (https://beast.community), based on the concatenated coding sequence (11,629 nt). Tip dates were obtained from the sampling year following a previous phylogenetic analysis of VEEV subtype ID and IAB; no further calibration of node ages was performed to construct the tree. Times are identified at each branch by number of years ago; numbers in parentheses indicate 95% highest posterior density values in years (11). Col, Colombia; Ecu, Ecuador; Gua, Guatemala; Pan, Panama; Per, Peru; Ven, Venezuela.

Figure 2. Phylogenetic and time scale analysis of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) from study of Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Peruvian Amazon, 2020. A, B) Phylogenetic analyses. A) relationships of VEEV from Peru (Peru 2020 and Peru 2021, depicted in red) and members of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis antigenic complex, based on the concatenated coding sequence (11,629 nt). Madariaga virus was included as an outgroup. B) Phylogenetic relationships of Peru 2020 and Peru 2021 (shown in red) and members of VEEV subtype ID Panama/Peru lineage, based on a partial sequence of the envelope glycoprotein precursor (PE2, 817 nt). Phylogenetic trees were constructed using MrBayes 3.2.6 (https://github.com/NBISweden/MrBayes/releases/tag/v3.2.6). GenBank accession number, country, and collection year are indicated for each sequence. Posterior probability ≥0.80 is indicated as a black circle in the node. C) Time to most recent common ancestor of VEEV identified in this study (Peru 2020 and Peru 2021, shown in red) and members of the ID and IAB subtypes, by number of years ago, calculated using BEAST 1.7.1 (https://beast.community), based on the concatenated coding sequence (11,629 nt). Tip dates were obtained from the sampling year following a previous phylogenetic analysis of VEEV subtype ID and IAB; no further calibration of node ages was performed to construct the tree. Times are identified at each branch by number of years ago; numbers in parentheses indicate 95% highest posterior density values in years (11). Col, Colombia; Ecu, Ecuador; Gua, Guatemala; Pan, Panama; Per, Peru; Ven, Venezuela.

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