Human Antibody Responses to Emerging Mayaro Virus and Cocirculating Alphavirus Infections Examined by Using Structural Proteins from Nine New and Old World Lineages

Abstract

Mayaro, chikungunya, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses are closely related alphaviruses that are spread by mosquitos, causing diseases that produce similar influenza-like symptoms or more severe illnesses. Moreover, alphavirus infection symptoms can be similar to those of dengue or Zika disease, leading to underreporting of cases and potential misdiagnoses. New methods that can be used to detect antibody responses to multiple alphaviruses within the same assay would greatly aid disease surveillance efforts. However, possible antibody cross-reactivity between viruses can reduce the quality of laboratory results. Our results demonstrate that antibody responses to multiple alphaviruses can be specifically quantified within the same assay by using selected recombinant protein antigens and further show that Mayaro virus infections result in unique responses to viral envelope proteins.