Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic flavivirus whose transmission cycle in nature includes wild birds as amplifying hosts and ornithophilic mosquito vectors. Bridge vectors can transmit WNV to mammal species potentially causing West Nile Fever. Wild bird migration is a mode of WNV introduction into new areas. The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) is a major stopover of wild birds migrating between Europe and Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of WNV in the DDBR during the 2016 transmission season in wild birds and mosquitoes. Blood from 68 wild birds (nine different species) trapped at four different locations was analyzed by competitive ELISA and Virus Neutralization Test (VNT), revealing positive results in 8/68 (11.8%) of the wild birds by ELISA of which six samples (three from juvenile birds) were confirmed seropositive by VNT. Mosquitoes (n = 6523, 5 genera) were trapped with CDC Mini Light traps at two locations and in one location resting mosquitoes were caught. The presence of WNV RNA was tested in 134 pools by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). None of the pools was positive for WNV-specific RNA. Based on the obtained results, WNV was circulating in the DDBR during 2016.
Highlights
West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic flavivirus whose transmission cycle in nature includes wild birds as amplifying hosts and ornithophilic mosquito vectors [1]
In the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) WNV was detected in ticks (Hyalomma marginatum marginatum nymph collected in 2013) [8] and mosquitoes (WNV lineage 2 strains in Culex pipiens, Cx. modestus, and Coquillettidia richiardii mosquitoes in 2015, and in 2016 WNV lineage 2 strains belonging to the monophyletic Central/Southern European group of strains which completely replaced the Volgograd 2007-like strain in the mosquito population) [9]
The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of WNV specific antibodies and RNA in populations of wild birds and mosquitoes, respectively, during the 2016 transmission season in order to assess the circulation of WNV in the DDBR in the frame of a summer training school organized under the capacity-building SCOPES (Scientific cooperation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland) AMSAR project [14]
Summary
West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic flavivirus whose transmission cycle in nature includes wild birds as amplifying hosts and ornithophilic mosquito vectors [1]. Bridge vectors (mosquito species feeding on both birds and mammals) can transmit WNV to other species including humans, horses, and other mammals [2]. The role of resident (sedentary) and short distance migratory birds in the circulation, maintenance, and spread of WNV was shown [5]. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of WNV specific antibodies and RNA in populations of wild birds and mosquitoes, respectively, during the 2016 transmission season in order to assess the circulation of WNV in the DDBR in the frame of a summer training school organized under the capacity-building SCOPES (Scientific cooperation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland) AMSAR project [14]
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