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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1548556
This article is part of the Research Topic Research Advances and Challenges in Emerging and Re-Emerging Viral Diseases View all 17 articles
Emergence, persistence, and positive selection of yellow fever virus in Colombia
Provisionally accepted
Lester J Perez 1*
Laura Silvana Pérez-Restrepo 2
Karl Ciuoderis 2
Jaime Usuga 2 Isabel Moreno 2 Vanessa Vargas 2 Angela J Arévalo-Arbelaez 2
Michael Berg 1
Gavin Cloherty 1
Juan Hernandez Ortiz 3 Jorge E Osorio 4- 1 Abbott (United States), Chicago, United States
- 2 GHI One Health Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia., Medellín, Colombia
- 3 National University of Colombia, Medellin, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
- 4 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Yellow fever virus (YFV) is an arbovirus that causes acute febrile illness (AFI), in tropical areas of South America and Africa. Through a 2020-2023 AFI study in Leticia, Colombia, leveraging metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), we identified and isolated YFV (LET1450). Phylogenetic analysis showed this strain belongs to South American genotype II (SamII), linked to Peruvian and Bolivian sequences emerging around 1989. Phylodynamic analysis indicates these strains, with a unique genetic makeup, could have reduced vaccine susceptibility, and due to positive Darwinian selection have an enhanced adaptive capacity. Antigenic analysis identified additional immune-evasive traits and this strain's potential for wider Latin American spread. Phylogeographic reconstruction demonstrated the persistence of YFV in Colombia is not due to repeated external introductions, but results from continuous, cryptic internal circulation. This study highlights the crucial role of mNGS in monitoring emerging strains and underscores the need for genomic surveillance of YFV and other arboviral infections.Despite decades of control efforts, vaccination coverage for Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) is variable and YFV remains a significant cause of acute febrile illness (AFI) in tropical regions of South America and Africa. A potential vaccine-escape strain of YFV belonging to the poorly characterized South American genotype II was identified in a febrile patient by next generation sequencing. The identification of specific adaptive mutations suggests the virus' capacity to evolve will enable its expansion beyond current geographic boundaries.Recognition of YFV's continuous circulation in the Amazon region and the emergence of resistance should heighten awareness and inform public health measures.
Keywords: Yellow fever virus, Acute febrile illness, deimmunization, positive selection, Phylodynamic, whole genome sequencing
Received: 19 Dec 2024; Accepted: 20 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Perez, Silvana Pérez-Restrepo, Ciuoderis, Usuga, Moreno, Vargas, Arévalo-Arbelaez, Berg, Cloherty, Hernandez Ortiz and Osorio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lester J Perez, Abbott (United States), Chicago, United States
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