*Article* **West Nile Virus in Brazil**

### **Érica Azevedo Costa 1,†, Marta Giovanetti 2,3,†, Lilian Silva Catenacci 4,†, Vagner Fonseca 3,5,6,†,**

**Flávia Figueira Aburjaile 3,†, Flávia L. L. Chalhoub 2, Joilson Xavier 3, Felipe Campos de Melo Iani 7, Marcelo Adriano da Cunha e Silva Vieira 8, Danielle Freitas Henriques 9, Daniele Barbosa de Almeida Medeiros 9, Maria Isabel Maldonado Coelho Guedes 1, Beatriz Senra Álvares da Silva Santos 1, Aila Solimar Gonçalves Silva 1, Renata de Pino Albuquerque Maranhão 10, Nieli Rodrigues da Costa Faria 2, Renata Farinelli de Siqueira 11, Tulio de Oliveira 5, Karina Ribeiro Leite Jardim Cavalcante 12, Noely Fabiana Oliveira de Moura 12, Alessandro Pecego Martins Romano 12, Carlos F. Campelo de Albuquerque 13, Lauro César Soares Feitosa 14, José Joffre Martins Bayeux 15, Raffaella Bertoni Cavalcanti Teixeira 16, Osmaikon Lisboa Lobato 17, Silvokleio da Costa Silva 17, Ana Maria Bispo de Filippis 2, Rivaldo Venâncio da Cunha 18, José Lourenço 19 and Luiz Carlos Junior Alcantara 2,3,\***


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**Citation:** Costa, É.A.; Giovanetti, M.; Silva Catenacci, L.; Fonseca, V.; Aburjaile, F.F.; Chalhoub, F.L.L.; Xavier, J.; Campos de Melo Iani, F.; da Cunha e Silva Vieira, M.A.; Freitas Henriques, D.; et al. West Nile Virus in Brazil. *Pathogens* **2021**, *10*, 896. https://doi.org/10.3390/ pathogens10070896

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Academic Editor: Francisco Llorente

Received: 30 April 2021 Accepted: 21 May 2021 Published: 15 July 2021

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**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

**\*** † Denote equal contribution.

**Abstract:** *Background:* West Nile virus (WNV) was first sequenced in Brazil in 2019, when it was isolated from a horse in the Espírito Santo state. Despite multiple studies reporting serological evidence suggestive of past circulation since 2004, WNV remains a low priority for surveillance and public health, such that much is still unknown about its genomic diversity, evolution, and transmission in the country. *Methods:* A combination of diagnostic assays, nanopore sequencing, phylogenetic inference, and epidemiological modeling are here used to provide a holistic overview of what is known about WNV in Brazil. *Results:* We report new genetic evidence of WNV circulation in southern (Minas Gerais, São Paulo) and northeastern (Piauí) states isolated from equine red blood cells. A novel, climate-informed theoretical perspective of the potential transmission of WNV across the country highlights the state of Piauí as particularly relevant for WNV epidemiology in Brazil, although it does not reject possible circulation in other states. *Conclusion:* Our output demonstrates the scarceness of existing data, and that although there is sufficient evidence for the circulation and persistence of the virus, much is still unknown on its local evolution, epidemiology, and activity. We advocate for a shift to active surveillance, to ensure adequate preparedness for future epidemics with spill-over potential to humans.

**Keywords:** West Nile virus; genomic monitoring; molecular detection; Brazil
