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Alphavirus is a genus of single-stranded positive sense RNA viruses, which infect vertebrate animals (humans, horses, rodents etc.) and/or arthropods. Medically important alphaviruses are mainly transmitted by mosquitoes; may elicit acute, chronic arthritis or fatal encephalitis to humans. Adaptive evolution plays an important role in shaping vector spectrum, viral fitness and transmission by mosquitoes. The pathogenesis of alphaviral diseases in mammals includes direct cytotoxicity and immunopathology involving both the innate and adaptive immune branches. This review summarizes the recent advances on the mechanisms of pathogenesis and transmission of the most prevalent alphavirus, arthritogenic chikungunya, and deadly encephalitogenic equine encephalitis viruses.
Penghua Wang (Fri,) studied this question.