| pathology and viral distribution in fatal usutu virus infections of birds from the 2001 and 2002 outbreaks in austria. | in the summer of 2001, usutu virus (usuv) was isolated for the first time in europe, from an episode of mass mortality in eurasian blackbirds (turdus merula). in the present study, 40 of the birds (representing three species), confirmed as cases of usuv infection, were examined by four methods (histopathology, immunohistochemistry [ihc], in-situ hybridization [ish] and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction [rt-pcr]). the major macroscopical finding was hepatosplenomegaly; histologicall ... | 2004 | 15276857 |
| complete genome analysis and molecular characterization of usutu virus that emerged in austria in 2001: comparison with the south african strain saar-1776 and other flaviviruses. | here we describe the complete genome sequences of two strains of usutu virus (usuv), a mosquito-borne member of the genus flavivirus in the japanese encephalitis virus (jev) serogroup. usuv was detected in austria in 2001 causing a high mortality rate in blackbirds; the reference strain (saar-1776) was isolated in 1958 from mosquitoes in south africa and has never been associated with avian mortality. the austrian and south african isolates exhibited 97% nucleotide and 99% amino acid identity. p ... | 2004 | 15464850 |
| emergence of usutu virus in hungary. | in 2001, usutu virus (usuv), a mosquito-borne flavivirus of the japanese encephalitis virus serogroup related to west nile virus and previously restricted to sub-saharan africa, emerged in wild and zoo birds in and around vienna, austria. in order to monitor the spread of the infection, a dead bird surveillance program was established in austria and in neighboring hungary. in hungary, 332 dead birds belonging to 52 species were tested for usuv infection between 2003 and 2006. in the first 2 year ... | 2007 | 17913929 |
| explaining usutu virus dynamics in austria: model development and calibration. | usutu virus (usuv), a flavivirus of the japanese encephalitis virus complex, was for the first time detected outside africa in the region around vienna (austria) in 2001 by weissenböck et al. [weissenböck, h., kolodziejek, j., url, a., lussy, h., rebel-bauder, b., nowotny, n., 2002. emergence of usutu virus, an african mosquito-borne flavivirus of the japanese encephalitis virus group, central europe. emerg. infect. dis. 8, 652-656]. usuv is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) circulating betwe ... | 2008 | 18314208 |
| simulation of climate-change scenarios to explain usutu-virus dynamics in austria. | the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in mid-latitudes, so far mainly observed in the tropics, considerably increase under the current situation of climate change. a recent example is the usutu virus (usuv) outbreak in austria. usuv is closely related to the west nile virus in the u.s. and caused mass mortalities mainly of blackbirds (turdus merula). the usuv flavivirus persists in a natural transmission cycle between vectors (mosquitoes) and host reservoirs (birds) and leads - once en ... | 2009 | 18715663 |
| understanding west nile virus ecology in europe: culex pipiens host feeding preference in a hotspot of virus emergence. | understanding wildlife disease ecology is becoming an urgent need due to the continuous emergence and spread of several wildlife zoonotic diseases. west nile virus (wnv) is the most widespread arthropod-borne virus in the world, and in recent decades there has been an increase both in geographic range, and in the frequency of symptomatic infections in humans and wildlife. the principal vector for wnv in europe is the common house culex pipiens mosquito, which feeds on a wide variety of vertebrat ... | 2015 | 25888754 |
| usutu virus: an emerging flavivirus in europe. | usutu virus (usuv) is an african mosquito-borne flavivirus belonging to the japanese encephalitis virus serocomplex. usuv is closely related to murray valley encephalitis virus, japanese encephalitis virus, and west nile virus. usuv was discovered in south africa in 1959. in europe, the first true demonstration of circulation of usuv was reported in austria in 2001 with a significant die-off of eurasian blackbirds. in the subsequent years, usuv expanded to neighboring countries, including italy, ... | 2015 | 25606971 |
| epidemic spread of usutu virus in southwest germany in 2011 to 2013 and monitoring of wild birds for usutu and west nile viruses. | mosquito-borne viruses are becoming an increasing threat for europe. one of these viruses is usutu virus (usuv), a single-stranded rna virus belonging to the japanese encephalitis virus group within the family flaviviridae. since the occurrence of usuv among wild birds in june, 2011, infected blackbirds (turdus merula) have frequently been found dead in southwest germany, cumulating in a massive die-off. moreover, other bird species (strigiformes) in this region have been affected. in a first st ... | 2015 | 26273809 |
| west nile virus-neutralizing antibodies in wild birds from southern spain. | west nile virus (wnv) is an emerging vector-borne arbovirus with a zoonotic life-cycle whose main reservoir hosts are birds. in humans and horses, wnv infections rarely result in clinical disease but on occasions - depending on factors such as climatic conditions, insect communities and background immunity levels in local populations - they can lead to outbreaks that threaten public and animal health. we tested for the presence of wnv antibodies in 149 birds belonging to 32 different species. sa ... | 2016 | 26846720 |
| blood meal analysis, flavivirus screening, and influence of meteorological variables on the dynamics of potential mosquito vectors of west nile virus in northern italy. | an extended area of northern italy has experienced several west nile virus (wnv) outbreaks and the emergence of usutu virus (usuv) during previous years. our aim was to study some of the factors that could explain disease patterns in the trentino region, where circulation was detected in human sera and sentinel chickens, but no human or equine cases were reported. we collected culex species (diptera: culicidae) in peridomestic environments. the collected specimens were analyzed for feeding behav ... | 2012 | 22548533 |
| outbreak and cocirculation of three different usutu virus strains in eastern germany. | usutu virus (usuv) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus accounting for large-scale deaths in resident bird populations. in this study, we show the introduction of usuv to eastern germany resulting in massive death of birds, particularly blackbirds (turdus merula). we found that three diverse usuv lineages ("europe 3," "africa 2," and "africa 3-like") circulated simultaneously. moreover, we detected usuv in culex pipiens in a region where no dead birds were reported, strengthening the need for mosquito ... | 2017 | 28816628 |