Viruses, Vol. 11, Pages 674: Evidence for West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus Infections in Wild and Resident Birds in Germany, 2017 and 2018

Viruses, Vol. 11, Pages 674: Evidence for West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus Infections in Wild and Resident Birds in Germany, 2017 and 2018 Viruses doi: 10.3390/v11070674 Authors: Friederike Michel Michael Sieg Dominik Fischer Markus Keller Martin Eiden Maximilian Reuschel Volker Schmidt Rebekka Schwehn Monika Rinder Sylvia Urbaniak Kerstin Müller Martina Schmoock Renke Lühken Patrick Wysocki Christine Fast Michael Lierz Rüdiger Korbel Thomas W. Vahlenkamp Martin H. Groschup Ute Ziegler Wild birds play an important role as reservoir hosts and vectors for zoonotic arboviruses and foster their spread. Usutu virus (USUV) has been circulating endemically in Germany since 2011, while West Nile virus (WNV) was first diagnosed in several bird species and horses in 2018. In 2017 and 2018, we screened 1709 live wild and zoo birds with real-time polymerase chain reaction and serological assays. Moreover, organ samples from bird carcasses submitted in 2017 were investigated. Overall, 57 blood samples of the live birds (2017 and 2018), and 100 organ samples of dead birds (2017) were positive for USUV-RNA, while no WNV-RNA-positive sample was found. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the first detection of USUV lineage Europe 2 in Germany and the spread of USUV lineages Europe 3 and Africa 3 towards Northern Germany. USUV antibody prevalence rates were high in Eastern Germany in both years. On the contrary, in Northern Germany, high seroprevalenc...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research