Alphaviruses, Including Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus

Alphaviruses exist throughout the world and commonly cause natural encephalitis outbreaks among horses and humans. Generally, this disease is fatal in horses but only incapacitating in humans. Nevertheless, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) was weaponized by the pre-1992 Soviet and pre-1969 United States biological warfare programs. Largely for this reason, alphaviruses are classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Category B threat agents, or of second highest priority with respect to public health and national security. However, their potential as biothreat agents remains unclear as it would be technically difficult to weaponize and disperse them. Keywords: Togaviridae; alphavirus; category B agent; Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus; EEEV; Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus; VEEV; Western equine encephalomyelitis virus; WEEV; encephalitis