Enhanced West Nile Virus Surveillance in a Dengue-Endemic Area—Puerto Rico, 2007

Torres-Aponte, Jomil; Luce, Richard; Hunsperger, Elizabeth; Muñoz‐Jordán, Jorge L.; Beltrán, Manuela; Vergne, Edgardo; Argüello, D. Fermín; Garcia, Enid; Sun, Wellington; Tomashek, Kay M.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.12-0575

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…7 Studies on Trinidad & Tobago have provided strong evidence for the circulation of important poultry viral and bacterial pathogens in commercial 9 and backyard poultry, 5 including infectious bronchitis virus (IBV; species Avian coronavirus ), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), Mycoplasma synoviae (MS), avian influenza virus (AIV; species Influenza A virus ), avian avulavirus 1 (formerly Newcastle disease virus, NDV), infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE). Furthermore, there is evidence for West Nile virus (WNV) infections in sentinel chickens in Puerto Rico, 33 chicken astroviruses in Grenada, 30 and Campylobacter spp. in Grenada 32 and Barbados.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infections and pathology of free-roaming backyard chickens on St. Kitts, West Indies

et al. 2019

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Free-roaming chickens on Caribbean islands are important sentinels for local avian diseases and those introduced by birds migrating through the Americas. We studied 81 apparently healthy unvaccinated free-roaming chickens from 9 parishes on St. Kitts, an eastern Caribbean island. Using commercial ELISAs, no chickens had antibodies against avian influenza virus, West Nile virus, or Salmonella Enteritidis, although seropositivity was high to infectious bursal disease virus (86%), infectious bronchitis virus (84%), Mycoplasma (37%), and avian avulavirus 1 (Newcastle disease virus, 31%). Examination of small and large intestinal contents revealed cestodes in 79% and nematodes in 75% of the chickens. Although ectoparasites and endoparasites were common (74% and 79%, respectively), only a few chickens had lesions at postmortem examination, mainly intestinal serosal nodules (12%) and feather loss (6%). Histologic examination of 18 organs from each bird revealed lesions in high percentages of organs, mainly the liver (86%), lung (75%), spleen (60%), small intestine (56%), skin (42%), and kidney (40%). Lesions included degenerative, reactive, inflammatory, and neoplastic, and were not correlated with the serologic status of the chickens except in one case of infectious bursal disease. Microscopically, Paratanaisia bragai was seen in the kidneys of 3 chickens and intestinal coccidiasis in 1 chicken. Pulmonary silicate aggregates were common, were present in intestinal serosal nodules, and were suggestive of environmental exposure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infections and pathology of free-roaming backyard chickens on St. Kitts, West Indies

et al. 2019

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“…West Nile virus has been present in Puerto Rico with documented transmission in bird species since at least 2004 [ 59 , 60 ]. However, there have only been a few documented cases of infections in humans and no outbreaks [ 61 ]. There is evidence that wild bird species in Puerto Rico are competent hosts of WNV, but that transmission to humans and horses is minimal [ 62 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns of Urban Mosquitoes in the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico

Hopken

Reyes-Torres

Scavo

et al. 2021

Insects

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Urban ecosystems are a patchwork of habitats that host a broad diversity of animal species. Insects comprise a large portion of urban biodiversity which includes many pest species, including those that transmit pathogens. Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) inhabit urban environments and rely on sympatric vertebrate species to complete their life cycles, and in this process transmit pathogens to animals and humans. Given that mosquitoes feed upon vertebrates, they can also act as efficient samplers that facilitate detection of vertebrate species that utilize urban ecosystems. In this study, we analyzed DNA extracted from mosquito blood meals collected temporally in multiple neighborhoods of the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico to evaluate the presence of vertebrate fauna. DNA was collected from 604 individual mosquitoes that represented two common urban species, Culex quinquefasciatus (n = 586) and Aedes aegypti (n = 18). Culex quinquefasciatus fed on 17 avian taxa (81.2% of blood meals), seven mammalian taxa (17.9%), and one reptilian taxon (0.85%). Domestic chickens dominated these blood meals both temporally and spatially, and no statistically significant shift from birds to mammals was detected. Aedes aegypti blood meals were from a less diverse group, with two avian taxa (11.1%) and three mammalian taxa (88.9%) identified. The blood meals we identified provided a snapshot of the vertebrate community in the San Juan Metropolitan Area and have potential implications for vector-borne pathogen transmission.

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“…Moreover, there is paucity in the number of reported human cases with WNV disease in Latin America and the Caribbean [ 39 ]. Indeed, only one symptomatic case of WNV disease was identified in PR during an enhanced human surveillance study on 2007 [ 23 ] and recently a human case of WNV encephalitis was reported in Brazil (Vieira et al, [ 20 ]). Possible explanations for the differences in WNV disease observed in humans, horses and birds between North America compared virus strains and Latin America include: 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This mutation was also observed in the current dominant clade (WN02) circulating in the United States, associated with increased viremia [ 22 ]. Interestingly, human disease was rarely detected following the introduction of WNV in PR; only one symptomatic WNV case was identified in an enhanced surveillance study in 2007 [ 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Puerto Rican West Nile Virus isolates in mice

Caraballo

Hunsperger

Martínez

2015

Virol J

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Background West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic arbovirus that was first isolated in 1937 in the West Nile District of Uganda. The virus emerged in New York in 1999 and is now endemic in North America (2007). The first virus isolates from Puerto Rico were obtained in 2007 from a chicken (PR20wh) and a mosquito pool (PR423). Our study further characterized these viral isolates using in vitro plaque morphology assays and in vivo using a Balb/c mice pathogenesis model. Methods and results In the in vitro experiments, PR WNV isolates produced significantly smaller plaques in Vero cells compared to the New York 1999 strain (NY99). For the in vivo experiments, PR WNV isolates were propagated in mammalian (Vero) and insect (C6/36) cell lines and then inoculated in Balb/c mice. When WNV was propagated in Vero cells, we observed a trend towards significance in the survival rate with PR20wh compared to NY99 (log rank, p = 0.092). Regardless of whether the viral isolates were propagated in Vero or C6/36 cells, we found a significantly greater survival in mice infected with PR20wh strain, when compared to NY99 (log rank, p = 0.04), while no statistical difference was detected between PR423 and NY99 (p = 0.84). The average survival time (AST) in mice was significantly lower in C6/36-derived PR423 when compared to C6/36-derived NY99 ( t -test, p = 0.013), and Vero-derived PR423 ( t -test, p < 0.001). Eight days post infection in mice the viral load in brain tissue for Vero-derived PR423 was significantly higher when compared to NY99 and PR20wh. Conclusions These results suggest that the PR WNV isolate, PR20wh, is a less pathogenic strain in mice than NY99. Moreover, we found that PR423 is a pathogenic isolate that causes faster mortality than NY99, when propagated in C6/36.

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Enhanced West Nile Virus Surveillance in a Dengue-Endemic Area—Puerto Rico, 2007

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Infections and pathology of free-roaming backyard chickens on St. Kitts, West Indies

Infections and pathology of free-roaming backyard chickens on St. Kitts, West Indies

Temporal and Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns of Urban Mosquitoes in the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico

Characterization of Puerto Rican West Nile Virus isolates in mice

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