Emergence of Usutu virus in Central Europe: diagnosis, surveillance and epizootiology

Herbert Weissenböck; Sonja Chvala-Mannsberger; Tamás Bakonyi; Norbert Nowotny

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Emergence of Usutu virus in Central Europe: diagnosis, surveillance and epizootiology

In: Emerging pests and vector-borne diseases in Europe

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Herbert Weissenböck

Herbert Weissenböck
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Sonja Chvala-Mannsberger

Sonja Chvala-Mannsberger
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Tamás Bakonyi

Tamás Bakonyi
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Norbert Nowotny

Norbert Nowotny
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 153–168

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086866267_011

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Dar Hadith al Hassania

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Usutu virus (USUV), a member of the mosquito-borne clade within the Flaviviridae family, emerged in the summer 2001 in Austria and caused fatalities in several species of wild birds. This was the first time that USUV appeared outside Africa, where it was considered to be unimportant in terms of pathogenicity. USUV continued to kill birds in Austria, especially blackbirds (Turdus merula L), during the summer periods of consecutive years. Since the emergence of USUV provided a unique opportunity to study the further development of the activity of a mosquito-borne virus in a previously unexposed ecosystem and a naive host population, a surveillance system was established and maintained for a period of three consecutive years (2003-2005). The survey identified the geographical distribution of infected birds and the most affected bird species, and revealed marked differences of USUV-associated bird mortality in the three seasons investigated. Different methods for detection of USUV in organs were established (immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridisation) demonstrating viral antigens and nucleic acids. Mosquito surveillance showed the presence of USUV nucleic acid in Culex spp. and some other species. Serological screenings of wild birds were performed in the years 2003-2006, showing a remarkable increase of antibody response to USUV beginning in 2005, which indicated the establishment of herd immunity. Analysis of human blood samples for antibodies and viral RNA revealed a considerable percentage of seropositives and in one case viral nucleic acid was detected. This indicates that infections of humans do occur, however without causing notable clinical signs. While USUV-associated bird losses significantly declined in Austria, the first cases of avian mortality due to USUV occurred in Hungary, Switzerland and Italy starting in the year 2005. The currently available data indicate that USUV, a pathogen initially restricted to the African continent, has become a resident infectious agent in Europe with a tendency of further spread within Central Europe.

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Emerging pests and vector-borne diseases in Europe

Series: Ecology and Control of Vector-borne Diseases, Volume: 1

E-Book ISBN:: 9789086866267

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 24 Oct 2007

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- Life Sciences

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Emergence of Usutu virus in Central Europe: diagnosis, surveillance and epizootiology

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Emerging pests and vector-borne diseases in Europe

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