Guamá-group virus activity in Surinam

From October 1972 through December 1973 entomological surveys were carried out in both a savannah and coastal area in Surinam. Attempts were made to isolate arboviruses from the captured mosquitoes. The results have been published elsewhere (Panday and Digoutte, 1979). The present paper deals with the further typing of the obtained Guamá-group viruses. Preliminary typing was done by means of complement-fixation test. By performing the neutralization test in mice, the unknown Guamá-group viruses were tested against reference hyperimmune mouse ascitic fluids with neutralizing antibodies against Guamá, Bimití, Catú and Moyú virus, respectively. It turned out that only Guamá, and Catú strains were isolated. In the coastal area four strains of Guamá type were isolated from pools of Coquillettidia venezuelensis (Theobald), and one from a pool of Culex spp. In the savannah area four strains of Catú type were obtained from pools of Culex portesi Senevet and Abonnenc.