Usutu virus in wild birds in northern Italy

Manarolla, G.; Bakonyi, Tamás; Gallazzi, D.; Crosta, Lorenzo; Weissenböck, Herbert; Dorrestein, Gerry M.; Nowotny, Norbert

doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.07.036

Cited by 93 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…USUV is also a member of the genus Flavivirus and the Japanese encephalitis serocomplex [41]. In Europe, USUV emerged in Austria in 2001 [42] and outbreaks have also been reported in Hungary [43], in Switzerland, in Italy [44], in Spain [45], and in Germany [46]. The detection of neutralizing antibodies against USUV in our WNV surveillance system is similar to findings in Northern Italy, where antibodies against USUV were detected in sentinel animals tested within the framework of the WNV surveillance system, providing evidence of co-circulation of WNV and USUV in the same area [47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a West Nile virus surveillance and early warning system in Greece, based on domestic pigeons

Chaintoutis¹,

Dovas²,

Papanastassopoulou³

et al. 2014

Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

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a b s t r a c tIn the summer of 2010 an epidemic of West Nile virus (WNV) occurred in Central Macedonia, Greece, with 197 human neuroinvasive disease (WNND) cases. In the following years the virus spread to new areas, with a total of 76 WNND cases in 2011, and 109 WNND cases in 2012 (14 and 12 WNND cases, respectively, in Central Macedonia). We established a surveillance system based on serological testing of domestic pigeons, using cELISA confirmed by serum neutralization test. In Central Macedonia, pigeon seroprevalence was 54% (95% CI: 49-59%) and 31% (95% CI: 24-37%) at the end of the 2010 and 2011 epidemic seasons, respectively. One serum was positive for neutralizing antibodies directed against Usutu virus. Pigeon WNV seroprevalence and incidence rates of human WNND after the 2010 epidemic were positively correlated ( = 0.94, at the regional unit level), while in 2011 the correlation ( = 0.56) was not statistically significant, possibly due to small number of human WNND cases recorded. To evaluate the efficacy of the system at alerting upon WNV enzootic circulation before the onset of human cases, we tested 270 pigeons in 2011 and 240 pigeons in 2012. In Central Macedonia, the first seroconversions in pigeons were recorded 44 and 47 days, respectively, before the first human WNND cases. Pigeon surveillance was used successfully for identification of areas with WNV enzootic transmission and for early warning. Timely diffusion of information to health authorities facilitated the implementation of preparedness plans to protect public health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a West Nile virus surveillance and early warning system in Greece, based on domestic pigeons

Chaintoutis¹,

Dovas²,

Papanastassopoulou³

et al. 2014

Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

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“…Lelli et al, 2008;Manarolla et al, 2010;Tamba et al, 2011; Vázquez et al, 2011;Cerutti et al, 2012;Ravanini et al, 2012;Buchebner et al, 2013;Calzolari et al, 2013a; Höfle et al, 2013). In Europe, USUV has been recognized as a candidate human pathogen in Austria (Weissenböck et al, 2007), Italy (Cavrini et al, 2009;Pecorari et al, 2009;Savini et al, 2011;Gaibani et al, 2012Gaibani et al, , 2013Pierro et al, 2013) and Croatia (Vilibic-Cavlek et al, 2014), but the pathogenicity for humans still requires further assessment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide detection of Aedes flavivirus in north-eastern Italy – a European hotspot of emerging mosquito-borne diseases

Grisenti

Vázquez

Herrero

et al. 2015

Journal of General Virology

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The pattern of flavivirus infection in mosquitoes belonging to the genera Aedes and Culex collected in two regions of north-eastern Italy (Trentino and Veneto) was assessed. Mosquitoes were collected during 2012 and screened for flaviviruses using a generic reverse transcriptionnested-PCR targeted on a region of the non-structural NS5 gene. The phylogenetic analysis was performed on a fragment of~1000 bp. Virus isolation was attempted in C6/36 insect cell lines and the infected cell cultures were studied by electron microscopy. We detected a wide distribution of Aedes flavivirus (AeFV) in Aedes albopictus, with higher infection prevalence in Trentino than in Veneto. In Culex pipiens collected in Veneto, we detected a new sequence of an insect-specific flavivirus and one of Usutu virus. Interestingly, we detected AeFV in C. pipiens, for the first time to our knowledge, in both regions. Viral isolation in cell culture was successful for AeFV. AeFV sequences found in Veneto showed a high percentage of similarity to those detected in Trentino and to those previously reported in other areas of northern Italy. Co-infections with different flaviviruses were not detected. INTRODUCTIONThe genus Flavivirus (family Flaviviridae) comprises .70 viruses that, according to their mechanism of transmission, are included in one of the following three groups: (1) those infecting a range of vertebrate hosts through mosquito or tick bites, called 'arthropod-borne viruses', (2) those spread without a known vector, presumed to be limited to infecting vertebrates only, and (3) those apparently limited to insects alone, called 'insect-specific flaviviruses' (ISFs) (Ishikawa & Konishi, 2011;Huhtamo et al., 2012 and references therein). The flavivirus genome contains genes coding for three structural proteins (capsid, premembrane and envelope) and seven non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B and NS5) (Lindenbach et al., 2006). Regions encoding envelope, NS3 and NS5 are the most frequently used for phylogenetic analysis of flaviviruses. The inclusion of ISFs in the genus Flavivirus is supported by similarities with other flaviviruses in terms of genomic organization, polyprotein hydropathy profiles and cleavage sites, but they are not able to replicate in mammalian cells and they have been isolated only in mosquito-derived cells (Kuno, 2007;Hoshino et al., 2009;Bolling et al., 2011;Cook et al., 2012;Haddow et al., 2013).The 'arthropod-borne viruses' group includes some important emerging human and animal pathogens, such 3These authors contributed equally to this work.The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for representative sequences obtained in this work are KM871198-KM871202. Lelli et al., 2008;Manarolla et al., 2010;Tamba et al., 2011; Vázquez et al., 2011;Cerutti et al., 2012;Ravanini et al., 2012;Buchebner et al., 2013;Calzolari et al., 2013a; Höfle et al., 2013). In Europe, USUV has been recognized as a candidate human pathogen in Austria (Weissenböck et al., 2007), Italy (Cavrini et al., 2009;Pecorari et al., ...

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“…52,54 An additional study conducted in the same years in the Po valley also detected USUV in dead birds, 78 and USUV infection was diagnosed in the country at that time in two free-living blackbirds and three captive owls. 79 Afterward (2012-2013), a serosurvey conducted in 47 different avian species found 1.35% (4/297) samples with neutralizing antibodies against USUV. 80 A flavivirus surveillance study carried out in southern Spain in 2011-2012 in hunted red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) and common pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) reported a 13% prevalence of anti-USUV neutralizing antibodies.…”

Section: µMmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

Saiz¹,

Blázquez²

2017

VAAT

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Abstract:The Flavivirus genus (Flaviviridae family) contains important pathogens such as yellow fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, St Louis encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Usutu virus (USUV), Zika virus, and dengue virus, many of which constitute a worrisome threat to global human and animal health. USUV is transmitted by mosquitoes and, as any other flavivirus, is an enveloped plus-strand RNA virus. The virus was first isolated from Culex neavei mosquitoes in South Africa in 1959 near the Usutu River, from where it takes its name. Since then, the virus was confined to Africa until its first detection in Austria in 2001, although it was probably present in Europe since 1996 or even earlier. After that, USUV has spread throughout Europe, causing a considerable mortality among birds and a few neurologic cases in humans. The main USUV natural hosts are birds, but infection has also been reported in other vertebrate species, including humans. The fast spread of the virus through the continent, the relatively high mortality caused in birds, and the recent neuroinvasive human cases related to USUV infection reported in Europe have raised serious concerns about its possible consequences for public health. Here, an updated review of current knowledge about this emerging pathogen is presented. Keywords: Usutu virus, flavivirus, host cell-virus interactions, surveillance, prophylaxis Biology of the virus Molecular classification and phylogenyUsutu virus (USUV) is a member of the Flavivirus genus within the Flaviviridae family ( Figure 1A). In 2004, the complete genomic sequences of two USUV strains, one African (South Africa-1959) and one European (Vienna-2001), were used to build a phylogenetic tree. These two strains showed a 97% and 99% homology at the nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) level, respectively.1 Both strains were closely related to Murray valley encephalitis virus (73% and 82% nt and aa similarity), Japanese encephalitis virus (71% and 81% nt and aa similarity), and to West Nile virus (WNV; 68% and 75% nt and aa similarity). Nowadays, dozens of complete sequences are available in the data banks. In a recent study, the sequence identity among seven USUV strains was 96%-99% and 99% at the nt and aa levels, respectively.2 The only exception was a 1969 isolate from Central African Republic (CAR-1969) that presented homologies of 81% and 94% at the nt and aa levels with other African sequences ( Figure 1B). Due to these differences, it has been suggested that CAR-1969 formed an USUV subtype strain.3 A comparison with the original South African SAAR-1776 strain showed that the mutations found among different European and African strains were scattered throughout the genome, with some unique substitutions and some that were present

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Usutu virus in wild birds in northern Italy

Cited by 93 publications

References 11 publications

Evaluation of a West Nile virus surveillance and early warning system in Greece, based on domestic pigeons

Evaluation of a West Nile virus surveillance and early warning system in Greece, based on domestic pigeons

Wide detection of Aedes flavivirus in north-eastern Italy – a European hotspot of emerging mosquito-borne diseases

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

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