03592naa a2200349 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400340006010000180009424501940011226000090030650005120031552019790082765000160280665000120282265300220283465300110285665300170286765300290288465300230291365300180293665300190295465300280297370000180300170000180301970000150303770000130305270000140306570000150307970000170309477301310311110598332022-09-05       2019    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 a10.3389/fmicb.2019.012402DOI1 aGIANNITTI, F.  aThe first case of bovine astrovirus-associated encephalitis in the southern hemisphere (Uruguay), uncovers evidence of viral introduction to the Americas from Europe.h[electronic resource]  c2019  aArticle history: Received: 22 March 2019//Accepted: 17 May 2019//Published: 04 June 2019. This work was funded by Grants PL-015 N-15156 from INIA and 158 from the ?Programa de Iniciación a la Investigación 2017? from ?Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica? (CSIC). MC and RDC acknowledge support from the ?Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación? (ANII) and INIA, respectively, through Ph.D. scholarships. FG acknowledges support from ANII through mobility grant MOV_CA_2018_1_150021.  aAbstract: Astrovirus species members of the Mamastrovirus genus (family Astroviridae) have been increasingly recognized as neuroinvasive pathogens in various mammals, including humans, mink, cattle, sheep, and pigs. While cases of astrovirus-associated encephalitis have been reported in North America, Europe, and Asia, their presence has never been documented in the Southern hemisphere. This paper describes a case of astrovirus-associated encephalitis in cattle in Uruguay that broadens the geographic distribution and genetic diversity of neuroinvasive astroviruses and provides phylogeographic evidence of viral introduction to the Americas from Europe. A 22-month-old Holstein steer from a farm in Colonia Department, Uruguay developed progressive neurological signs over a 3-days period before dying. Histopathological examination of the brain and proximal cervical spinal cord revealed disseminated, moderate to severe lymphocytic, histiocytic, and plasmacytic poliomeningoencephalomyelitis with neuronal necrosis. A Mamastrovirus strain in the CH13/NeuroS1 clade, that we called bovine astrovirus (BoAstV)-Neuro-Uy, was identified by reverse transcriptase PCR followed by nearly complete genome sequencing. Additionally, BoAstV was detected intralesionally in the brain by chromogenic RNA in situ hybridization within neuronal perikarya, axons and dendrites. Phylogenetic analysis of BoAstV-Neuro-Uy revealed a close relationship to neurotropic BoAstVs within the Virginia/Human-Mink-Ovine clade, which contains a growing cadre of neuroinvasive astroviruses. Analyzing the complete coding region of neuroinvasive BoAstVs sequences available in GenBank, we estimated an evolutionary rate of 4.27 × 10-4 (95% HPD 2.19?6.46 × 10-4) nucleotide substitutions/site/year. Phylogeographic analysis suggests that the common viral ancestor circulated in Europe between 1794?1940, and was introduced in Uruguay between 1849?1967, to later spread to North America and Japan.  aSUD AMERICA  aURUGUAY  aBOVINE ASTROVIRUS  aCATTLE  aENCEPHALITIS  aENFERMEDADES INFECCIOSAS  aINFECTIOUS DISEASE  aMAMASTROVIRUS  aPHYLOGEOGRAPHY  aPLATAFORMA SALUD ANIMAL1 aCAFFARENA, D.1 aPESAVENTO, P.1 aUZAL, F.A.1 aMAYA, L.1 aFRAGA, M.1 aCOLINA, R.1 aCASTELLS, M.  tFrontiers in Microbiology, volumen 10, Article 1240, 04 June 2019. [OPEN ACCESS].Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01240