| west nile virus--neutralizing antibodies in humans in greece. | serum samples collected during march-may 2007 from 392 residents of imathia prefecture, northern greece, were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for igg antibodies against west nile virus (wnv). microneutralization assay was applied in six positive samples. four (4/392, 1.02%) were found positive for wnv-neutralizing antibodies. none of the positive individuals had a history of travel in endemic area or flavivirus vaccination, suggesting that wnv, o ... | 2010 | 20738157 |
| detection of west nile virus lineage 2 in mosquitoes during a human outbreak in greece. | clin microbiol infect 2011; 17: 1176-1180 abstract: a human outbreak of west nile virus (wnv) infections occurred in 2010 in central macedonia, northern greece. most cases were observed close to four rivers forming a large delta, a major mediterranean wetland. wnv lineage 2 sequences were obtained from two pools of culex pipiens mosquitoes trapped in sites where encephalitis cases occurred a few days before the trapping. the greek strain showed the highest homology to hungarian and south african ... | 2011 | 21781205 |
| Evidence of enzootic circulation of West Nile virus (Nea Santa-Greece-2010, lineage 2), Greece, May to July 2011. | A West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance network including sentinel chickens was deployed in Thessaloniki county, Greece, from May to July 2011. For the first time in summer 2011, a chicken WNV isolate from 6 July was molecularly identified. The partial NS3 sequence was identical to that of the Nea Santa-Greece-2010 WNV lineage 2, detected in central Macedonia in 2010. This suggests that WNV is actively circulating in central Macedonia and that it may have overwintered in northern Greece. | 2011 | 21871217 |
| west nile virus circulation in mosquitoes in greece (2010-2013). | background of the study. following a large west nile virus (wnv) epidemic in northern greece in 2010, an active mosquito surveillance system was implemented, for a 3-year period (2011, 2012, and 2013). description of the study site and methodology. using mainly co2 mosquito traps, mosquito collections were performed. samples were pooled by date of collection, location, and species and examined for the presence of wnv. results. positive pools were detected in different areas of the country. in 20 ... | 2016 | 27294111 |
| population seroprevalence study after a west nile virus lineage 2 epidemic, greece, 2010. | during summer 2010, 262 human cases including 35 deaths from west nile virus (wnv) infection were reported from central macedonia, greece. evidence from mosquitoes, birds and blood donors demonstrated that the epidemic was caused by wnv lineage 2, which until recently was considered of low virulence. we conducted a household seroprevalence study to estimate the spread of infection in the population during the epidemic, ascertain the relationship of infection to clinical disease, and identify ris ... | 2013 | 24260390 |
| neuroinvasive phlebovirus infection in greece: a case report. | sandfly fever phleboviruses are endemic in mediterranean countries. we report a febrile phlebovirus case in a greek patient who presented signs of neuroinvasive infection. | 2014 | 25378100 |
| evaluation of a west nile virus surveillance and early warning system in greece, based on domestic pigeons. | in the summer of 2010 an epidemic of west nile virus (wnv) occurred in central macedonia, greece, with 197 human neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) cases. in the following years the virus spread to new areas, with a total of 76 wnnd cases in 2011, and 109 wnnd cases in 2012 (14 and 12 wnnd cases, respectively, in central macedonia). we established a surveillance system based on serological testing of domestic pigeons, using celisa confirmed by serum neutralization test. in central macedonia, pigeon se ... | 2014 | 24503179 |
| emergence of equine west nile encephalitis in central macedonia, greece, 2010. | during the summer of 2010, an outbreak of west nile virus (wnv) infections attributed to a lineage 2 wnv strain was reported among humans and horses in central macedonia, northern greece. here, the clinical and laboratory investigation of horses that showed severe neurological signs due to wnv infection is being described. specifically, between august and september 2010, 17 horses with neurological signs were detected. wnv infection was confirmed in all 17 clinical cases by applying laboratory t ... | 2016 | 25660661 |
| serological monitoring of backyard chickens in central macedonia-greece can detect low transmission of west nile virus in the absence of human neuroinvasive disease cases. | during 2010-13, west nile virus (wnv) epidemics occurred in greece with high numbers of human cases. in parallel, wnv serological surveillance utilizing domestic birds was applied mainly in central macedonia, as well as in other areas of the country, and allowed efficient detection of wnv activity during this period. the objective of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity of chicken-based wnv surveillance in periods of low-level virus transmission (2014-15) in a well-studied area, i.e. the ep ... | 2016 | 27469618 |
| economic appraisal of the public control and prevention strategy against the 2010 west nile virus outbreak in central macedonia, greece. | the aim of the present paper is to evaluate the economic efficiency of the public control and prevention strategies to tackle the 2010 west nile virus (wnv) outbreak in the region of central macedonia, greece. efficiency is examined on the basis of the public prevention costs incurred and their potential in justifying the costs arising from health and nuisance impacts in the succeeding years. | 2016 | 26710663 |
| surveillance and early warning of west nile virus lineage 2 using backyard chickens and correlation to human neuroinvasive cases. | in 2010, a west nile virus (wnv) epidemic was reported in central macedonia, northern greece, with 197 neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) cases in humans. the following 3 years, wnv spreads to new areas of greece and human cases reoccurred during the transmission periods. after the initial outbreak, a wnv surveillance system using juvenile backyard chickens was established in central macedonia (after the 2011 outbreak) and eastern macedonia-thrace (after the 2012 outbreak). sera were screened for the ... | 2015 | 25155113 |
| detection of west nile virus and insect-specific flavivirus rna in culex mosquitoes, central macedonia, greece. | west nile virus (wnv) emerged in central macedonia, northern greece, in 2010. the aim of the study was to test culex mosquitoes for genetic detection of wnv and other flaviviruses, and to check whether the detection of wnv in mosquitoes was correlated with the occurrence of human wnv cases. | 2014 | 25033823 |
| laboratory and clinical characteristics of human west nile virus infections during 2011 outbreak in southern greece. | during the summer-autumn of 2011, a human outbreak of west nile virus (wnv) infection occurred in southern greece, following the first outbreak during 2010 in northern greece. an investigation was performed to analyze laboratory diagnosis, geographic distribution, and clinical features of wnv cases in southern greece. serum and cerebrospinal fluid (csf) specimens from all patients seeking laboratory diagnosis for suspected wnv infection were tested for the presence of specific wnv immunoglobulin ... | 2014 | 24359426 |
| detection and early warning of west nile virus circulation in central macedonia, greece, using sentinel chickens and mosquitoes. | following the west nile virus (wnv) epidemic in 2010 in central macedonia, greece, which resulted in 197 human neuroinvasive disease cases, we determined the seasonal appearance and prevalence of the virus in 2011 by testing weekly for wnv genomic rna in mosquitoes collected in carbon dioxide-baited traps, and for anti-wnv antibodies in sentinel chickens. preliminary findings of the surveillance program regarding the circulation of "nea santa-greece-2010" in sentinel chickens were rapidly commun ... | 2013 | 23919609 |
| distribution and hybridization of culex pipiens forms in greece during the west nile virus outbreak of 2010. | in 2010, an outbreak of west nile virus (wnv) infections occurred in the region of thessaloniki, central macedonia, in northern greece. during this period, culex pipiens sensu stricto mosquitoes were found infected by wnv lineage 2. cx. pipiens s.s. presents two distinct biological forms, denoted molestus and pipiens. hybrids between the two forms may potentiate the accidental transmission of wnv to humans. we have genetically characterized the form composition of cx. pipiens s.s. samples collec ... | 2013 | 23466890 |
| west nile virus in mosquitoes in greece. | epidemics of west nile virus (wnv) occurred for two consecutive years in greece (in 2010 and 2011). a total of 16,116 adult culex pipiens mosquitoes collected in two peripheries, central macedonia and thessaly, were tested for wnv infection. wnv lineage 2 was detected in 6/296 mosquito pools, three in each year. the h249p substitution in the ns3 protein, previously associated with increased pathogenicity and thermotolerance, was detected in all six wnv-positive mosquito pools. when 21 individual ... | 2013 | 23371497 |