Abstract
Following a large West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in northeastern Italy in 2008, human and animal surveillance activities were implemented in Emilia Romagna. Human surveillance was performed by serology or genome detection on blood and cerebrospinal fluid for all suspected cases suffering from acute meningoencephalitis in the regional territory. Animal surveillance consisted of passive and active surveillance of horses and active surveillance of wild birds and mosquitoes. Between 15 June and 31 October 2009, nine of 78 possible cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease were confirmed (three fatal). From May to October, 26 cases of neurological West Nile disease were confirmed among 46 horses. The overall incidence of seroconversion among horses in 2009 was 13%. In 2009, 44 of 1,218 wild birds yielded positive PCR results for WNV infection. The planned veterinary and entomological surveillance actions detected WNV activity from the end of July 2009, about 2-3 weeks before the onset of the first human neurological case. Passive surveillance of horses seems to be an early and suitable tool for the detection of WNV activity, but it will be less sensitive in the future, because an intensive programme of horse vaccination started in June 2009.
Highlights
Citation style for this article: Citation style for this article: Angelini P, Tamba M, Finarelli AC, Bellini R, Albieri A, Bonilauri P, Cavrini F, Dottori M, Gaibani P, Martini E, Mattivi A, Pierro
Human surveillance was performed by serology or genome detection on blood and cerebrospinal fluid for all suspected cases suffering from acute meningoencephalitis in the regional territory
Passive surveillance of horses seems to be an early and suitable tool for the detection of West Nile virus (WNV) activity, but it will be less sensitive in the future, because an intensive programme of horse vaccination started in June 2009
Summary
M Dottori, P Gaibani , E Martini, A Mattivi, A M Pierro , G Rugna, V Sambri , G Squintani, P Macini. West Nile virus circulation in Emilia-Romagna, Italy: the integrated surveillance system 2009. Following a large West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in north-eastern Italy in 2008, human and animal surveillance activities were implemented in Emilia Romagna. From May to October, 26 cases of neurological West Nile disease were confirmed among 46 horses. The planned veterinary and entomological surveillance actions detected WNV activity from the end of July 2009, about 2-3 weeks before the onset of the first human neurological case. Passive surveillance of horses seems to be an early and suitable tool for the detection of WNV activity, but it will be less sensitive in the future, because an intensive programme of horse vaccination started in June 2009. In addition to passive surveillance, active monitoring of horses was implemented in the area involved in the outbreak, including Ferrara and the neighbouring provinces [3]
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