The invention provides chimeric flavivirus vectors encoding one or more structural proteins from a first flavivirus with a low level of replication in a cell, such as dengue virus and yellow fever virus, and a backbone from a second flavivirus with a high level of replication in the cell, such as the Rio Bravo virus or the Uganda S virus. The chimeric flaviviruses encoded by the chimeric flavivirus vectors of the invention can be used to vaccinate subjects to prevent infection from infectious flaviviruses, including dengue viruses and yellow fever viruses.
