Vaccines for Venezuelan equine encephalitis

Arboviruses are capable of causing encephalitis in animals and human population when transmitted by the vector or potentially via infectious aerosol. Recent re-emergence of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) in South America emphasizes the importance of this pathogen to public health and veterinary medicine. Despite its importance no antivirals or vaccines against VEEV are currently available in the USA. Here we review some of the older and newer approaches aimed at generating a safe and immunogenic vaccine as well as most recent data about the mechanistic of protection in animal models of infection. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.