Abstract
As at 12 November 2018, an outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) was responsible for 139 WNV infection cases in Israel. Here, we characterise the epidemiology of the outbreak and demonstrate that only WNV lineage I was circulating in mosquitoes and responsible for WNV infection in humans. This suggests that the concurrence of the outbreak in Israel with WNV outbreaks in several European countries is not due to a common, more virulent WNV genotype.
Highlights
Citation style for this article: Lustig Yaniv, Gosinov Ruslan, Zuckerman Neta, Glazer Yael, Orshan Laor, Sofer Danit, Schwartz Eli, Schvartz Gili, Farnoushi Yigal, Lublin Avishai, Erster Oran, Shalom Uri, Yeger Tamar, Mor Orna, Anis Emilia, Mendelson Ella
Sequenced West Nile virus (WNV) strains in Israel typically belong to two distinct clusters within WNV lineage I [1,2] The concurrence of ongoing WNV outbreaks in Israel, as well as in several European countries, during the 2018 transmission season [4, 14] prompted us to investigate the epidemiological and phylogenetic characteristics of the outbreak in Israel and assess its relatedness to the outbreak in Europe
To the outbreak in Europe, the outbreak in Israel started early in the WNV season [14] but is likely unrelated to the European WNV outbreak, as only WNV lineage I was identified in all WNV human cases and WNV-positive mosquito pools
Summary
West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in Israel demonstrates human infection of WNV lineage I. Citation style for this article: Lustig Yaniv, Gosinov Ruslan, Zuckerman Neta, Glazer Yael, Orshan Laor, Sofer Danit, Schwartz Eli, Schvartz Gili, Farnoushi Yigal, Lublin Avishai, Erster Oran, Shalom Uri, Yeger Tamar, Mor Orna, Anis Emilia, Mendelson Ella. Epidemiologic and phylogenetic analysis of the 2018 West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in Israel demonstrates human infection of WNV lineage I. We characterise the epidemiology of the outbreak and demonstrate that only WNV lineage I was circulating in mosquitoes and responsible for WNV infection in humans. This suggests that the concurrence of the outbreak in Israel with WNV outbreaks in several European countries is not due to a common, more virulent WNV genotype. Nature and Park Authorities and the ministry of environmental protection report all WNV cases to the division of epidemiology, which, in turn, issues a monthly report during the WNV season [8]
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