In 2010, 47 human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, including 12 laboratory-confirmed and 35 probable cases, were identified in Turkey. These were the first cases detected during routine surveillance. The patients were from 15 provinces, mainly located in the western part of the country. Incidence was 0.19/100,000 with a maximum of 1.39 in Sakarya province. Forty of the total 47 cases showed neuroinvasive manifestation. Median age was 58 years with a range of four to 86. Ten of the patients died. Enhanced surveillance in humans and animals and mosquito control measures were implemented. The WNV infections were included in the national notifiable diseases list as of April 2011. In 2011, three probable and two confirmed cases of WNV infection were diagnosed in provinces where infections had been detected in the previous year, supporting a lower activity than 2010. However, detection of WNV infections in humans in 2010 and 2011 consecutively, may indicate that WNV has become endemic in the western part of Turkey. Field epidemiological studies were undertaken to understand more about the nature of infection in Turkey.

cell-to-cell transmission and fusion of infected cells. The gB glycoprotein is an important target for both humoral and cellular immune responses and included in the HCMV vaccine development. HCMV gB gene is classified into four genotypes; namely genotype 1, 2, 3 and 4. All gB genotypes were implicated in the disease severity of transplant recipients and HIV infected patients.Aim: To analyse the gene profile and construct the phylogenetic tree of HCMV gB gene sequences obtained from HIV infected patients who were experiencing HCMV viraemia to document the circulating HCMV gB genotypes in South Africa.Methods & Materials: Nested PCR method targeting variable region of gB gene was developed and gB gene sequences were amplified from twenty archived plasma samples of HCMV viraemic HIV infected patients. Analysis of nucleotide sequences were performed by using Chromas-Pro software programme and phylogenetic tree was constructed by comparing with standard sequences from Genbank, NCBI.Results: The gB2 genotype was detected in 35% (7/20) of patients and only 15% (3/20) represents gB1. The gB3 and gB4 genotypes were identified among 20% (4/20) and 30% (6/20) of patients respectively. All gB gene sequences obtained from study participants displayed 98%-100% similarity with laboratory strains AD 169 and Towne as well as other reference sequences obtained from clinical cases. All participants were severely immunosuppressed and their mean CD4+ T-cell counts was 32 cells/l. Conclusion:All four gB genotypes circulate in the study population and gB 2 genotype is a dominant genotype. High sequence similarity between study samples and vaccine strain indicates that our population will have positive response should the HCMV gB vaccine becomes available in South Africa.