{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T12:51:36Z","timestamp":1776430296120,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease once clinical symptoms develop. In Europe, sustained animal rabies control programs have led to a marked decline in animal rabies and subsequently human rabies cases; however, sporadic infections continue to occur. In July 2025, a fatal case of autochthonous (locally acquired) human rabies was confirmed in Romania following a stray dog bite in a patient who did not receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Here, we report the first molecular characterization of a human rabies virus (RABV) strain isolated in Romania and place it in the context of contemporaneously circulating animal-derived RABV strains. Rabies virus infection was confirmed intra vitam by fluorescent antibody testing and both conventional and real-time RT-PCR on cerebrospinal fluid and saliva, with postmortem confirmation on skin and brain tissue. Whole-genome sequencing was performed on the human isolate and on 22 animal-derived RABV strains collected in northern Romania in 2025. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that all recent Romanian sequences clustered within the North-East European (NEE) rabies virus phylogenetic group and segregated into two geographically distinct genetic clusters: a north-western cluster, closely related to strains from Slovakia and Poland, and a larger north-eastern cluster, linked to viruses circulating in eastern Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The human-derived RABV genome was grouped within the north-eastern cluster and showed the highest genetic similarity to animal viral strains from the same geographical area, supporting a local transmission event. This demonstrates the importance of integrating human viral genomic data into the national rabies surveillance framework.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18040475","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T11:53:46Z","timestamp":1776426826000},"page":"475","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Diagnostic and Phylogenetic Insights into a Human Rabies Virus Isolate from Romania"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Vlad","family":"Vuta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, 050557 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Gradinaru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases, 700116 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mihnea","family":"Hurmuzache","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases, 700116 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9929-2602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Florica","family":"B\u0103rbuceanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, 050557 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 050097 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lenuta","family":"Zamfir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, 050557 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"R\u0103zvan","family":"Mo\u021biu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, 050557 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-2178-1692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Schmid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8408-2274","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dirk","family":"H\u00f6per","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8511-9067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sten","family":"Calvelage","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0959-3653","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1076-398X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Conrad M.","family":"Freuling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Insel Riems, 17493 Greifswald, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17091","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2017.91","article-title":"Rabies","volume":"3","author":"Fooks","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. 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