Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) is an important zoonotic flavivirus responsible for mild fever to severe, lethal neuroinvasive disease in humans, horses, birds, and other wildlife species. Since its discovery, WNV has caused multiple human and animal disease outbreaks in all continents, except Antarctica. Infections are associated with economic losses, mainly due to the cost of treatment of infected patients, control programmes, and loss of animals and animal products. The pathogenesis of WNV has been extensively investigated in natural hosts as well as in several animal models, including rodents, lagomorphs, birds, and reptiles. However, most of the proposed pathogenesis hypotheses remain contentious, and much remains to be elucidated. At the same time, the unavailability of specific antiviral treatment or effective and safe vaccines contribute to the perpetuation of the disease and regular occurrence of outbreaks in both endemic and non-endemic areas. Moreover, globalisation and climate change are also important drivers of the emergence and re-emergence of the virus and disease. Here, we give an update of the pathobiology, epidemiology, diagnostics, control, and “One Health” implications of WNV infection and disease.
Highlights
West Nile Virus (WNV) is a zoonotic, mosquito-borne flavivirus, one of about 75 virus species of the Flaviviridae family [1]
Following the 1999 WNV outbreak in American alligators in the Americas and WNV associated “pix” lesions in saltwater crocodiles in Australia, experimental studies suggested that American alligators and saltwater crocodiles are WNV amplifiers with high enough titres in their blood to potentially transmit the virus to mosquitoes [39,41]
WNV genomic RNA was detected in both oral and cloacal swabs of saltwater crocodiles experimentally infected with WNV Kunjin strain (WNVKUN) as well as in their un-infected pen-mates, C. porosus does not present with gastrointestinal clinical signs or pathological changes, and it remains unknown where exactly in the alimentary tract the virus is replicating in these animals [41]
Summary
West Nile Virus (WNV) is a zoonotic, mosquito-borne flavivirus, one of about 75 virus species of the Flaviviridae family [1]. At the surface of the virions (mature or immature), the three distinct domains are arranged in an antiparallel dimer [86,88] It is the most immunogenic of the flaviviral proteins and due to its critical role in virus entry of the target cell, it is the principal target for most vaccines and curative drug designs mainly through immunotherapeutic approaches. The E protein of most WNV strains contains a conserved N-linked glycosylation site at the 154–156 amino acid position in DI [90,91]. Exposed on the surface of the immature virion, prM is believed to play a critical role in preventing the premature fusion of the E proteins with the membrane of the host cell [94]. The cleavage of prM by furin is essential for the virus maturity [89]
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