A critical component of laboratory surveillance for measles is the genetic characterization of circulating wild-type viruses. The World Health Organization (WHO) Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (LabNet), provides for standardized testing in 183 countries and supports genetic characterization of currently circulating strains of measles viruses. The goal of this report is to describe the lessons learned from nearly 20 years of virologic surveillance for measles, to describe the global databases for measles sequences, and to provide regional updates about measles genotypes detected by recent surveillance activities. Virologic surveillance for measles is now well established in all of the WHO regions, and most countries have conducted at least some baseline surveillance. The WHO Global Genotype Database contains >7000 genotype reports, and the Measles Nucleotide Surveillance (MeaNS) contains >4000 entries. This sequence information has proven to be extremely useful for tracking global transmission patterns and for documenting the interruption of transmission in some countries. The future challenges will be to develop quality control programs for molecular methods and to continue to expand virologic surveillance activities in all regions.

We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 19 hepatitis B virus strains from Laos that belonged to 2 subgenotypes of a new genotype I. This emerging new genotype likely developed outside Southeast Asia and is now found in mixed infections and in recombinations with local strains in a geographically confi ned region.A s a result of mutations and recombinations, hepatitis B virus (HBV) has evolved into 8 known genotypes (A-H), with a putative new genotype I recently found in Asia (1,2). Some genotypes have been associated with distinct clinical patterns, and their detection and identifi cation are important for virus and disease surveillance.In Laos, 8.7% of the population are chronically infected with HBV, and perinatal transmission is the most common route of infection. Here, we present the phylogenetic analysis of 19 related strains found in voluntary blood donors from Laos that cluster with the new genotype I. The StudyPhylogenetic analysis of sequences obtained from hepatitis B surface antigen-positive fi rst-time blood donors from donation centers in Vientiane City and central provinces of Laos showed that 163 (42.2%) strains were of genotype B, and 204 (55.4%) were of genotype C. Subgenotypes included B2 (18), B3 (1), B4 (128), and B5 (16), as well as C2 (190), C3 (1), and C5 (13) ( Figure 1, panel A). Nineteen strains, including 15 complete sequences, did not group with any of the known genotypes A-H. These sequences formed 2 clusters, which were emerging from a common node (bootstrap value of 100%; Figure 1, panel A). One of the clusters grouped with a recently reported single strain from Vietnam, for which we had previously defi ned a new genotype I (2). The 2 new groups from Laos will be referred to here as subgenotypes I1 and I2. Notably, all I1 strains were of serotype adw, whereas all I2 subgenotypes were of serotype ayw. With 1 exception, all genotype I strains were found in donors living in Vientiane City. Strains recovered from Hanoi, Vietnam, 8 years ago and reported as aberrant strains (3) also group with subgenotype I1.Detailed analysis of full genome sequences showed that genotype C strains as a group were most closely related to genotype I (average Kimura distance of 7.89%, Table 1). The closest subgenotype was C3 with a 7.0% average Kimura distance (data not shown). The bootstrap value of the separating node was 92% (Figure 1, panel A), which is well above the bootstrap value of the G/DE node. On the S gene level, genotype I was most closely related to genotype G with a distance of 4.23% and a bootstrap value of 96% at the separating node (data not shown). Within the 2 subgenotypes I1 and I2, an average diversity over the complete genome of 1.19% and 0.94% was calculated; this difference increased to 2.33% when all strains were considered as a single group. The maximal genetic distance between 2 full-length genotype I strains was 4.3%. All clusterEmerging Infectious Diseases • www

In Europe, ixodid ticks are important arthropod vectors of human and animal pathogens, but comprehensive studies of the prevalence of all relevant pathogens in Central Europe are scarce. As a result of ecological changes, the incidences of tick-borne infections are expected to increase. In this study, 1,394 nymphal and adult Ixodes ricinus ticks sampled monthly during the active season from 33 ecologically distinct collection sites throughout Luxembourg were screened for all human tick-borne pathogens relevant in Central Europe. Species were identified by sequence analysis of detection PCR amplicons. Mean infection rates of ticks were 11.3% for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, 5.1% for Rickettsia sp., 2.7% for Babesia sp., and 1.9% for Anaplasma phagocytophilum. No tick was found to be infected with Coxiella sp., Francisella tularensis subsp., or Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). A total of 3.2% of ticks were infected with more than one pathogen species, including mixed Borrelia infections (1.5%). Seasonal variations of tick infection rates were observed for Borrelia, Babesia, and Anaplasma, possibly reflecting a behavioral adaptation strategy of questing ticks. A positive correlation between the grade of urbanization and Borrelia infection rate of ticks was observed, suggesting an established urban zoonotic cycle. We also found Hepatozoon canis (0.1%) and Bartonella henselae (0.3%), which so far have not been found in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks in Central Europe.In Western Europe, the hard tick Ixodes ricinus is the main arthropod vector of various human and animal pathogens, causing several tens of thousands of severe infections in humans every year (25, 37). The most common tick-borne infection is Lyme borreliosis. This multisystemic disorder is caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, which is comprised of at least 12 species worldwide (45). Among the 6 European species, only Borrelia garinii, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto are known as human pathogens, whereas the significance of Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia spielmanii, and Borrelia lusitaniae for human health is not clear (24). In a metaanalysis of 154 European studies, a mean of 13.7% of ticks were found to be infected with Borrelia spp., predominantly with B. afzelii and B. garinii. However, the prevalence of Borrelia species varies from 2 to 49% between different regions (43).Other tick-borne bacteria which cause disease in humans are Rickettsia sp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana, Coxiella burnetii, and Francisella tularensis subsp., all of which show only relatively low prevalence rates of 0.1 to 4.8% for European ticks (16,23,26,42,48,52). In addition, three species of the parasitic protozoan Babesia are known to infect humans, namely, B. divergens, B. microti, and the newly described Babesia sp. EU1 (5). Also, in Western Europe, Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) has a relatively low prevalence; however, this pathogen deserves special attention b...

ABSTRACTTicks are important disease vectors that can cause considerable economic losses by affecting animal health and productivity, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and diversity of bacterial and protozoan tick-borne pathogens in ticks collected from the vegetation and cattle in Nigeria by PCR. The infection rates of questing ticks were 3.1% forRickettsiaspecies, 0.1% forCoxiella burnetiiand 0.4% forBorreliaspecies. Other pathogens, such asBabesia,Theileria,Anaplasma, andEhrlichiaspecies, were not detected in ticks from the vegetation. Feeding ticks collected from cattle displayed infection rates of 12.5% forRickettsiaspecies, 14% forCoxiella burnetii, 5.9% forAnaplasmaspecies, 5.1% forEhrlichiaspecies, and 2.9% forTheileria mutans. BabesiaandBorreliaspecies were not detected in ticks collected from cattle. Mixed infections were found only in feeding ticks and mainlyRickettsiaspecies andCoxiella burnetiiwere involved. The diversity of tick-borne pathogens in Nigeria was higher in feeding than in questing ticks, suggesting that cattle serve as reservoirs for at least some of the pathogens studied, in particularC. burnetii. The total estimated herd infection rates of 20.6% for aRickettsia africae-like species, 27% forCoxiella burnetii, and 8.5% forAnaplasma marginale/centralesuggest that these pathogens may have considerable implications for human and animal health.

Worldwide, ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens. Besides Lyme Borreliosis, a variety of other bacterial and protozoal tick-borne infections are of medical interest in Europe. In this study, 553 questing and feeding Ixodes ricinus (n = 327) and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (n = 226) were analysed by PCR for Borrelia, Rickettsia, Anaplasma, Coxiella, Francisella and Babesia species. Overall, the pathogen prevalence in ticks was 30.6% for I. ricinus and 45.6% for D. reticulatus. The majority of infections were caused by members of the spotted-fever group rickettsiae (24.4%), 9.4% of ticks were positive for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, with Borrelia afzelii being the most frequently detected species (40.4%). Pathogens with low prevalence rates in ticks were Anaplasma phagocytophilum (2.2%), Coxiella burnetii (0.9%), Francisella tularensis subspecies (0.7%), Bartonella henselae (0.7%), Babesia microti (0.5%) and Babesia venatorum (0.4%). On a regional level, hotspots of pathogens were identified for A. phagocytophilum (12.5–17.2%), F. tularensis ssp. (5.5%) and C. burnetii (9.1%), suggesting established zoonotic cycles of these pathogens at least at these sites. Our survey revealed a high burden of tick-borne pathogens in questing and feeding I. ricinus and D. reticulatus ticks collected in different regions in Belarus, indicating a potential risk for humans and animals. Identified hotspots of infected ticks should be included in future surveillance studies, especially when F. tularensis ssp. and C. burnetii are involved.

We detected antibodies against influenza D in 80.2% of the cattle sampled in Luxembourg in 2016, suggesting widespread virus circulation throughout the country. In swine, seroprevalence of influenza D was low but increased from 0% to 5.9% from 2012 to 2014–2015.

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Phylogenetic analysis of 166 human parvovirus B19 sequences from 11 different countries attributed 91.57% to genotype 1, 5.42% to genotype 3b, and 3.01% to genotype 3a. Very similar viruses of genotype 1 circulated widely in Europe and Israel. Genotype 3b seems to show an increasing spread outside of Africa.Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infections are usually associated with mild disease, but in immunocompromised and anemic patients, as well as during pregnancy, severe complications can occur. Based on the genetic variability of 994 nucleotides (nt) of the NS1/VP1-unique region junction, three distinct genotypes of B19V have been proposed (13). A recent report presented evidence that certain complications might be preferentially associated with certain virus genotypes (6). Several studies demonstrated that previously published or commercially available assays show differences in their diagnostic performance, including the inability to detect certain genotypes, especially genotype 3, subtype 3b (1, 5). Despite these important implications for the diagnosis of B19V, little is known about the genotypes prevalent in many countries.Serum samples collected between 2000 and 2008 mostly from rash/fever patients negative for both measles and rubella from 11 different countries were analyzed for B19V (Table 1). A nested PCR was performed with the forward primers e1855f and e1863f (13) and reverse primers B19-R1 (5Ј-GGGAACT TCCGGCAAACTTCCTTG-3Ј) and B19-R2 (5Ј-GTAGTCTT TTACTACTTGTGCTTG-3Ј), yielding fragments of 1,239 and 1,168 nt. Previously published reverse primers (13) have a maximum of three (e2953r) and four (e2960r) mismatches compared to B19V GenBank sequences, including 3Ј and 5Ј