West Nile Virus Serosurveillance in Wild Boars from the East of Romania

Abstract

West Nile Virus (WNV) is the etiological agent of the WN fever/encephalitis, a re-emerging zoonosis signalled frequently in the last decades in the whole world. The virus can cause severe neurological disease in horses and humans but in many other species specific WNV seroconversion is signalled and may be an useful epidemiological tool. Wild animals can be vectors for many pathogens but the surveillance is limited due to the particularities of those populations. A preliminary serosurvey study was made to evaluate the circulation of WNV in wild boar population from two counties in the south east of Romania. Antibodies against WNV were detected by a competitive ELISA in 43 (63.24% ) of the 68 tested samples (BuzAƒu County 53.33% and GalaA£i County 71.05%).This is the first attempt to assess the seroconversion of WNV in wild boars in Romania and we can assume that the infection is maintained in tested areas in a sylvatic enzootic transmission circle. Our previous studies had revealed the high seroprevalence of WNV in horses and domestic birds from the studied areas. Moreover, WN encephalitis was diagnosed in humans from GalaA£i and BuzAƒu counties. Our results might bring in light the hypothesis of WNV seroconversion in wild boars and pointto further studies. Taking in accountthat WNV is a Flavivirus ofthe Japanese encephalitis virus antigenic complex, there is a great possibility to cross react with other related viruses infecting the wildboar, so more specific tests are needed in order to confirm our preliminary results