Abstract
After the West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in 2012, we collected mosquito samples from Vojvodina province, Serbia, in 2013. We found high WNV infection rate in two species, Culex pipiens and Anopheles maculipennis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Serbian WNV strains from 2013 were most closely related to Italian and Greek strains isolated in 2012 and 2010, respectively. Public health authorities should be aware of a potentially increased risk of WNV activity during the 2014 season.
Highlights
In this report we provide evidence for an unprecedented detection rate of West Nile virus (WNV) in competent mosquito vectors during the 2013 season
WNV was detected in nine pools of C. pipiens (MIR value: 1.61; 95% confidence interval: 0.70–3.10) and a single pool of Anopheles maculipennis (MIR value: 45; 95% confidence interval: 1.20–228.40), suggesting that these two mosquito species may play an important role of WNV transmission in the study area
In the present mosquito-based surveillance of WNV we found a high infection rate in two mosquito species, C. pipiens and A. maculipennis in the Vojvodina province, Serbia
Summary
In this report we provide evidence for an unprecedented detection rate of West Nile virus (WNV) in competent mosquito vectors during the 2013 season. Given that these arthropods overwinter, our WNV surveillance of mosquitoes collected during the 2013 season of high mosquito activity (April to October) from Vojvodina province, Serbia, may have implications for the preparation for the WNV season in 2014. After the 2012 epidemic, which was associated with WNV lineage 2 and caused 58 human cases in Serbia (eight of them fatal), the virus was successfully detected and characterised in migratory bird samples [3]. WNV was detected in nine pools of C. pipiens (MIR value: 1.61; 95% confidence interval: 0.70–3.10) and a single pool of Anopheles maculipennis (MIR value: 45; 95% confidence interval: 1.20–228.40), suggesting that these two mosquito species may play an important role of WNV transmission in the study area
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