West Nile Virus and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Are Endemic in Equids in Eastern Austria
Abstract
Abstract:
The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) in addition to the autochthonous tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in Europe causes rising concern for public and animal health. The first equine case of West Nile neuroinvasive disease in Austria was diagnosed in 2016. As a consequence, a cross-sectional seroprevalence study was conducted in 2017, including 348 equids from eastern Austria. Serum samples reactive by ELISA for either flavivirus immunoglobulin G orMwere further analyzed with the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT-80) to identify the specific etiologic agent. Neutralizing antibody prevalences excluding vaccinated equids were found to be 5.3% for WNV, 15.5% for TBEV, 0% for USUV, and 1.2% for WNV from autochthonous origin. Additionally, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to detect WNV nucleic acid in horse sera and was found to be negative in all cases. Risk factor analysis did not identify any factors significantly associated with seropositivity.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Strengthening the Interaction of the Virology Community with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) by Linking Virus Names and Their Abbreviations to Virus Species
Nowotny, Norbert (2019)Abstract. The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is tasked with classifying viruses into taxa (phyla to species) and devising taxon names. Virus names and virus name abbreviations are currently not ... -
Modelling West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus Pathogenicity in Human Neural Stem Cells
Nowotny, Norbert (2020)Abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are genetically related neurotropic mosquito-borne flaviviruses, which frequently co-circulate in nature. Despite USUV seeming to be less pathogenic for humans than ... -
Monitoring Urban Zoonotic Virus Activity: Are City Rats a Promising Surveillance Tool for Emerging Viruses?
Nowotny, Norbert (2022)Abstract: Urban environments represent unique ecosystems where dense human populations may come into contact with wildlife species, some of which are established or potential reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens that cause ...