From Transmission to Adaptive Evolution: Genomic Surveillance of Getah Virus (GETV)

Yuge Yuan¹Yujia Hao¹Chengcheng Peng¹Duo Zhang²Wenzhou Ma¹Pengpeng Xiao^1*Nan Li^1*

• ¹Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
• ²Jilin University, Changchun, Hebei Province, China

Getah virus (GETV) is a member of the Alphavirus genus of the Togaviridae family. It is a single-stranded positive-RNA virus that is mainly transmitted by mosquitoes. In recent years, the spread of GETV has become increasingly serious, causing serious losses to the animal economy and posing a potential threat to public health. GETV infected animals extend from traditional domestic animals such as horses and pigs to cattle, foxes and other animals. Especially in China, the virus has been detected in many provinces in recent years. In addition, GETV-specific antibodies were detected in healthy humans.However, the threat posed by GETV in China has not received enough attention. In this study, we downloaded all available GETV genome-wide serials (82 serials in total) from the NCBI as of December 2023. We integrate multiple bioinformatics approaches to understand the characteristics of GETV from the perspectives of epidemiology, virus-host coevolution, and viral adaptation analysis. Epidemiological studies of GETV have shown that GETV is rapidly expanding its host range and geographic distribution at a high evolutionary rate due to the lack of vaccines. Second, we clearly reveal the cross-species transmission of GETV.Finally, we identified important adaptive and positive selection sites. Our study shows that GETV and its vectors are widely distributed in China and that new host infections are constantly emerging. Strengthening surveillance and prevention to avoid serious losses from the epidemic is an important task facing us today.