Co-circulation of Usutu virus and West Nile virus in a reed bed ecosystem

0448526 - ÚBO 2016 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Rudolf, Ivo - Bakonyi, T. - Šebesta, Oldřich - Mendel, Jan - Peško, Juraj - Betášová, Lenka - Blažejová, Hana - Venclíková, Kristýna - Straková, Petra - Nowotny, N. - Hubálek, Zdeněk
Co-circulation of Usutu virus and West Nile virus in a reed bed ecosystem.
Parasites & Vectors. Roč. 8, č. 520 (2015), s. 520. ISSN 1756-3305. E-ISSN 1756-3305
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 261504 - EDENEXT
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : Culex modestus * Usutu virus * West Nile virus * Flavivirus * Arbovirus * Surveillance * Mosquitoes
Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology
Impact factor: 3.234, year: 2015

Background: Mosquito-borne flaviviruses are a major public health threat in many countries worldwide. In Central Europe, West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV), both belonging to the Japanese encephalitis virus group (Flaviviridae) have emerged in the last decennium. Surveillance of mosquito vectors for arboviruses is a sensitive tool to evaluate virus circulation and consequently to estimate the public health risk. Methods: Mosquitoes (Culicidae) were collected at South-Moravian (Czech Republic) fishponds between 2010 and 2014. A total of 61,770 female Culex modestus Ficalbi mosquitoes, pooled to 1,243 samples, were examined for flaviviruses by RT-PCR. Results: One pool proved positive for USUV RNA. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that this Czech USUV strain is closely related to Austrian and other Central European strains of the virus. In addition, nine strains of WNV lineage 2 were detected in Cx. modestus collected in the same reed bed ecosystem. Conclusions: This is the first detection of USUV in Cx. modestus. The results indicate that USUV and WNV may co-circulate in a sylvatic cycle in the same habitat, characterised by the presence of water birds and Cx. modestus mosquitoes, serving as hosts and vectors, respectively, for both viruses.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0250199