Co‐infections: Simultaneous detections of West Nile virus and Usutu virus in birds from Germany

Santos, Pauline Dianne; Michel, Friederike; Wylezich, Claudia; Höper, Dirk W.; Keller, Markus; Holicki, Cora M; Szentiks, Claudia A.; Eiden, Martin; Muluneh, Aemero; Neubauer-Juric, Antonie; Thalheim, Sabine; Globig, Anja; Beer, Martin; Groschup, Martin H.; Ziegler, Ute

doi:10.1111/tbed.14050

Cited by 39 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…However, our logistic regression model (univariate and multivariate) showed that horses in panel B were significantly less likely seropositive than horses in panel A. These results are in accordance with bird surveillance studies [38,39,59], which demonstrated the presence of WNV infection in resident and zoo birds only from the eastern part of Germany.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Seroepidemiological Survey of West Nile Virus Infections in Horses from Berlin/Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Bergmann

Trachsel

Stoeckle

et al. 2022

Viruses

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Following the introduction of the West Nile virus (WNV) into eastern Germany in 2018, increasing infections have been diagnosed in birds, equines, and humans over time, while the spread of WNV into western Germany remained unclear. We screened 437 equine sera from 2018 to 2020, excluding vaccinated horses, collected from convenience sampled patients in the eastern and western parts of Germany, for WNV-specific antibodies (ELISAs followed by virus/specific neutralization tests) and genomes (RT-qPCRs). Clinical presentations, final diagnoses, and demographic data were also recorded. In the eastern part, a total of eight horses were found WNV seropositive in 2019 (seroprevalence of 8.16%) and 27 in 2020 (13.77%). There were also two clinically unsuspected horses with WNV-specific antibodies in the western part from 2020 (2.63%), albeit travel history-related infections could not be excluded. None of the horse sera contained WNV-specific genomes. Eight horses in eastern Germany carried WNV-IgM antibodies, but only four of these showed typical clinical signs. These results underline the difficulty of detecting a WNV infection in a horse solely based on clinical signs. Thus, WNV circulation is established in the horse population in eastern Germany, but not yet in the western part.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Seroepidemiological Survey of West Nile Virus Infections in Horses from Berlin/Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Bergmann

Trachsel

Stoeckle

et al. 2022

Viruses

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“…Amongst the viruses represented by a low number of reads, we also detected Usutu virus (USUV) in datasets lib03038/lib03039 and lib03422 ( Table 4 ). These findings confirmed the previously reported WNV/USUV co-infections in the animals from which these datasets were derived ( Santos et al., 2021 ). However, we could not detect USUV reads in dataset lib03041/lib03042, which was also derived from a bird that tested positive for both WNV and USUV.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…However, we could not detect USUV reads in dataset lib03041/lib03042, which was also derived from a bird that tested positive for both WNV and USUV. In our previous study, viral sequence enrichment and virus-specific multiplex PCR had to be employed to acquire the full genomes of both flaviviruses ( Santos et al., 2021 ). Owing to the previously performed complete analysis, here we did not pursue USUV for EWS downstream analysis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In action—an early warning system for the detection of unexpected or novel pathogens

et al. 2021

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Pro-active approaches in preventing future epidemics include pathogen discovery prior to their emergence in human and/or animal populations. Playing an important role in pathogen discovery, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) enables the characterization of microbial and viral genetic diversity within a given sample. In particular, metagenomic HTS allows the unbiased taxonomic profiling of sequences; hence, it can identify novel and highly divergent pathogens such as viruses. Newly discovered viral sequences must be further investigated using genomic characterization, molecular and serological screening, and/or in-vitro and in-vivo characterization. Several outbreak and surveillance studies apply unbiased generic HTS to characterize whole genome sequences of suspected pathogens. In contrast, this study aimed to screen for novel and unexpected pathogens in previously generated HTS datasets and use this information as a starting point for the establishment of an early warning system (EWS). As a proof of concept, the EWS was applied to HTS datasets and archived samples from the 2018-19 West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in Germany. A metagenomics read classifier detected sequences related to genome sequences of various members of Riboviria. We focused the further EWS investigation on viruses belonging to the families Peribunyaviridae and Reoviridae, under suspicion of causing co-infections in WNV-infected birds. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the reovirus genome sequences clustered with sequences assigned to the species Umatilla virus, whereas a new peribunyavirid, tentatively named “Hedwig virus” belonged to a putative novel genus of the family Peribunyaviridae. In follow up studies, newly developed molecular diagnostic assays detected fifteen Umatilla virus-positive wild birds from different German cities and eight Hedwig virus-positive captive birds from two zoological gardens. Umatilla virus was successfully cultivated in mosquito C6/36 cells inoculated with a blackbird liver. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the power of the applied EWS for the discovery and characterization of unexpected viruses in repurposed sequence datasets, followed by virus screening and cultivation using archived sample material. The EWS enhances the strategies for pathogen recognition before causing sporadic cases and massive outbreaks and proves to be a reliable tool for modern outbreak preparedness.

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“…Due to the spatial and temporal overlapping of flaviviruses in Europe, their differentiation by diagnostic tests is essential for surveillance and control [2]. Co-circulation of WNV and USUV in Europe has been evaluated, but at country level (i.e., countries where circulation of these viruses has been detected) [28,29]. However, to assess whether they have a similar geographical distribution, and therefore whether their ecological requirements are likely to be the same, a much lower spatial aggregation, preferably point data, is required.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Widespread Circulation of Flaviviruses in Horses and Birds in Northeastern Spain (Catalonia) between 2010 and 2019

Napp

Llorente

Beck

et al. 2021

Viruses

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The surveillance for West Nile virus (WNV) in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) has consistently detected flaviviruses not identified as WNV. With the aim of characterizing the flaviviruses circulating in Catalonia, serum samples from birds and horses collected between 2010 and 2019 and positive by panflavivirus competition ELISA (cELISA) were analyzed by microneutralization test (MNT) against different flaviviruses. A third of the samples tested were inconclusive by MNT, highlighting the limitations of current diagnostic techniques. Our results evidenced the widespread circulation of flaviviruses, in particular WNV, but also Usutu virus (USUV), and suggest that chicken and horses could serve as sentinels for both viruses. In several regions, WNV and USUV overlapped, but no significant geographical aggregation was observed. Bagaza virus (BAGV) was not detected in birds, while positivity to tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was sporadically detected in horses although no endemic foci were observed. So far, no human infections by WNV, USUV, or TBEV have been reported in Catalonia. However, these zoonotic flaviviruses need to be kept under surveillance, ideally within a One Health framework.

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Co‐infections: Simultaneous detections of West Nile virus and Usutu virus in birds from Germany

Cited by 39 publications

References 72 publications

Seroepidemiological Survey of West Nile Virus Infections in Horses from Berlin/Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Seroepidemiological Survey of West Nile Virus Infections in Horses from Berlin/Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

In action—an early warning system for the detection of unexpected or novel pathogens

Widespread Circulation of Flaviviruses in Horses and Birds in Northeastern Spain (Catalonia) between 2010 and 2019

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