Lineage 1 and 2 Strains of Encephalitic West Nile Virus, Central Europe

Two different West Nile virus (WNV) strains caused lethal encephalitis in a flock of geese and a goshawk in southeastern Hungary in 2003 and 2004, respectively. During the outbreak in geese, 14 confirmed human cases of WNV encephalitis and meningitis were reported in the same area. Sequencing of com...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 618 - 623
Main Authors: Bakonyi, Tamás, Ivanics, Éva, Erdélyi, Károly, Ursu, Krisztina, Ferenczi, Emőke, Weissenböck, Herbert, Nowotny, Norbert
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.04.2006
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Subjects:
Animals
Arbovirus
Bird Diseases - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - virology
Birds - virology
Disease Outbreaks - veterinary
Encephalitis
goose
Humans
Hungary - epidemiology
Japanese encephalitis virus serogroup
Phylogeny
Virus research
Viruses
West Nile Fever
West Nile Fever - epidemiology
West Nile Fever - virology
West Nile virus
West Nile virus - classification
West Nile virus - genetics
West Nile virus - isolation & purification
Hungary
ISSN:1080-6040, 1080-6059
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Two different West Nile virus (WNV) strains caused lethal encephalitis in a flock of geese and a goshawk in southeastern Hungary in 2003 and 2004, respectively. During the outbreak in geese, 14 confirmed human cases of WNV encephalitis and meningitis were reported in the same area. Sequencing of complete genomes of both WNV strains and phylogenetic analyses showed that the goose-derived strain exhibits closest genetic relationship to strains isolated in 1998 in Israel and to the strain that emerged in 1999 in the United States. WNV derived from the goshawk showed the highest identity to WNV strains of lineage 2 isolated in central Africa. The same strain reemerged in 2005 in the same location, which suggests that the virus may have overwintered in Europe. The emergence of an exotic WNV strain in Hungary emphasizes the role of migrating birds in introducing new viruses to Europe.
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ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1204.051379