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Serologic Survey of Potential Vertebrate Hosts for West Nile Virus in Poland

2008; Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Volume: 21; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1089/vim.2007.0111

1557-8976

Zdeněk Hubálek, Elżbieta Wegner, Jiřı́ Halouzka, Piotr Tryjanowski, Leszek Jerzak, Silvie Šikutová, Ivo Rudolf, A G Kruszewicz, Zbigniew Jaworski, Radosław Włodarczyk,

Malaria Research and Control

A survey for antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV; genus, Flavivirus) was carried out by plaque-reduction neutralization microtesting in 78 horses, 20 domestic chickens, and 97 wild birds belonging to 10 species from different areas in Poland. Specific antibodies were detected in five juvenile (hatching-year) birds collected in 2006: three white storks (Ciconia ciconia) in a wildlife rehabilitation center (5.4% of all examined storks; the antibody titers in each bird were 1:320, 1:160, and 1:20), one free-living mute swan (Cygnus olor; the titer was 1:20), and one hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix; the titer 1:20) in a wildlife rehabilitation center; thus the overall seropositivity to WNV was 5.2% among all the birds sampled. These data do not rule out the presence of WNV activity in Poland with 100% certainty, but they indicate a significant trace that demands verification. In addition, one black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) had neutralizing antibodies for the Usutu Flavivirus the first case recorded in Poland.