Blood donor screening for West Nile virus (WNV) revealed acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection, Germany, September 2016.

Blood donor screening for West Nile virus (WNV) revealed acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection, Germany, September 2016. Euro Surveill. 2017 Apr 06;22(14): Authors: Cadar D, Maier P, Müller S, Kress J, Chudy M, Bialonski A, Schlaphof A, Jansen S, Jöst H, Tannich E, Runkel S, Hitzler WE, Hutschenreuter G, Wessiepe M, Schmidt-Chanasit J Abstract Between 1 June and 31 December 2016, 13,023 blood donations from the University Hospital Aachen in Germany were routinely screened for West Nile virus (WNV) RNA using the cobas TaqScreen WNV Test. On 28 September 2016, one blood donor was tested positive. Subsequent analysis revealed an acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection. During the ongoing USUV epizootics in Germany, blood transfusion services, public health authorities and clinicians should be aware of increased human USUV infections. PMID: 28422005 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Euro Surveill - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Euro Surveill Source Type: research