Wild snakes harbor West Nile virus

Dahlin, Christine R.; Hughes, Daniel F.; Meshaka, Walter E.; Coleman, Charles Oliver; Henning, Jill D.

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2016.09.003

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The virus can escape bird-mosquito transmission to infect mammals and reptiles through competent, more generalist mosquito species. Recent evidence suggests that snakes may be important to the transmission dynamics and overwintering of Eastern equine encephalitis virus [ 27 , 28 , 35 , 60 ] and West Nile virus [ 61 ]. The overwintering mechanisms of these viruses are unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, and the local mosquito community in Florida, USA

et al. 2018

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The Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, is a well-established invasive species in the greater Everglades ecosystem of southern Florida, USA. Most research on its ecological impacts focuses on its role as a predator and its trophic interactions with native vertebrate species, particularly mammals. Beyond predation, there is little known about the ecological interactions between P. bivittatus and native faunal communities. It is likely that established populations of P. bivittatus in southern Florida serve as hosts for native mosquito communities. To test this concept, we used mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I DNA barcoding to determine the hosts of blood fed mosquitoes collected at a research facility in northern Florida where captive P. bivittatus and Argentine black and white tegu, Salvator merianae (Duméril and Bibron), are maintained in outdoor enclosures, accessible to local mosquitoes. We recovered python DNA from the blood meals of three species of Culex mosquitoes: Culex erraticus (Dyar and Knab), Culex quinquefasciatus Say, and Culex pilosus (Dyar and Knab). Culex erraticus conclusively (P = 0.001; Fisher’s Exact Test) took more blood meals from P. bivittatus than from any other available host. While the majority of mosquito blood meals in our sample were derived from P. bivittatus, only one was derived from S. merianae. These results demonstrate that local mosquitoes will feed on invasive P. bivittatus, a recently introduced host. If these interactions also occur in southern Florida, P. bivittatus may be involved in the transmission networks of mosquito-vectored pathogens. Our results also illustrate the potential of detecting the presence of P. bivittatus in the field through screening mosquito blood meals for their DNA.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, and the local mosquito community in Florida, USA

et al. 2018

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“…Some raptors feed preferentially on birds, but depending on the species they eat, their risk of WNV infection will vary significantly. Other raptors may essentially prey on mammals or reptiles, which may also be infected by WNV [ 65 ]. However, further research is needed about WNV prevalence and persistence in different species of mammals and reptiles.…”

Section: Wnv Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Birds of Prey in West Nile Virus Epidemiology

et al. 2020

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Reported human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) in Europe increased dramatically in 2018. Lineage 1 strains had been circulating in Euro-Mediterranean countries since the early 1990s. The subsequent introduction of WNV lineage 2 has been responsible for the remarkable upsurge of European WNV outbreaks since 2004, including the dramatic increase in human cases observed since 2018. The virus exists in a natural cycle between mosquitoes and wild birds, with humans and horses acting as dead-end hosts. As the key vertebrate hosts in the transmission cycle of WNV, avian species have been the focus of surveillance across many countries. Raptors appear particularly susceptible to WNV infection, resulting in higher prevalence, and in some cases exhibiting neurological signs that lead to the death of the animal. In addition, birds of prey are known to play an important role as WNV reservoir and potentially amplifying hosts of infection. Importantly, raptor higher susceptibility/prevalence may indicate infection through predation of infected prey. Consequently, they are considered important target species when designing cost-effective surveillance for monitoring both seasonal WNV circulation in endemic countries and its emergence into new areas, where migrating raptors may play a critical role in virus introduction. This review summarizes the different aspects of the current knowledge of WNV infection in birds of prey and evaluates their role in the evolution of the epizootic that is spreading throughout Europe.

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“…In the summer of 2001 in Illinois, WNV was first isolated after a laboratory analysis verified that two dead crows found in Cook County had died because of this virus. Meanwhile, nucleic acid of WNV was detected in snakes in Pennsylvania in 2003 with 59% (2 out of 123) in the Eastern Garter snake species (Dahlin et al 2016). Between 2004 and 2005, 65% of the 76 Californian cases that involved fox squirrels, as well as western and eastern gray squirrels resulted in death (Padgett et al 2007).…”

Section: History and Prevalence Of Wnvmentioning

confidence: 99%

West Nile Virus Infection in Human and Animals: Potential Risks in Malaysia

Yuseri¹,

Yasmin²,

Omar³

et al. 2019

JSM

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West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic RNA virus maintained in enzootic cycles involving mosquito mainly Culex and Aedes spp. as the vector and birds as the reservoir host. WNV is endemic in Africa, Europe and Western Asia. Human infection results in asymptomatic illness such as fever, headache, tiredness, body aches, nausea, vomiting, skin rash, swollen lymph glands and neuroinvasive disease are seen in less than 1% of infected persons. The spectrum of symptoms in animals includes fever, weakness and paralysis of hind limbs, impaired vision, ataxia, head pressing, aimless wandering, seizures, inability to swallow, walking in circles and coma. Based on the previous study in Malaysia, the antibody and nucleic acid against WNV were detected in Orang Asli, captive birds and horses. In this paper, potential risk factors contributing to WNV occurrence are discussed. How the disease or infection is diagnosed and controlled was also discussed.

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Wild snakes harbor West Nile virus

Cited by 25 publications

References 29 publications

Interactions between the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, and the local mosquito community in Florida, USA

Interactions between the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, and the local mosquito community in Florida, USA

The Role of Birds of Prey in West Nile Virus Epidemiology

West Nile Virus Infection in Human and Animals: Potential Risks in Malaysia

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