Blood donor screening for West Nile virus (WNV) revealed acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection, Germany, September 2016

Cadar, Dániel; Maier, Philipp; Müller, Susanne; Kreß, Julia; Chudy, M.; Bialonski, Alexandra; Schlaphof, Alexander; Jansen, Stéphanie; Jöst, Hanna; Tannich, Egbert; Runkel, Stefan; Hitzler, W; Hutschenreuter, Gabriele; Wessiepe, Martina; Schmidt‐Chanasit, Jonas

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.es.2017.22.14.30501

Cited by 79 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…95 However, analysis of 13,023 blood donations for the presence of WNV antibodies revealed an acute USUV infection in one of the donors. 96 Evidence of USUV circulation has also been reported in Croatia in 2013 after detecting USUV neutralizing antibodies in 3 out of 95 patients with clinically suspected WNV infection. 97 Reports of viremia or USUV RNA-positive samples in humans are scarce.…”

Section: Humansmentioning

confidence: 98%

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

Saiz¹,

Blázquez²

2017

VAAT

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Abstract:The Flavivirus genus (Flaviviridae family) contains important pathogens such as yellow fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, St Louis encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Usutu virus (USUV), Zika virus, and dengue virus, many of which constitute a worrisome threat to global human and animal health. USUV is transmitted by mosquitoes and, as any other flavivirus, is an enveloped plus-strand RNA virus. The virus was first isolated from Culex neavei mosquitoes in South Africa in 1959 near the Usutu River, from where it takes its name. Since then, the virus was confined to Africa until its first detection in Austria in 2001, although it was probably present in Europe since 1996 or even earlier. After that, USUV has spread throughout Europe, causing a considerable mortality among birds and a few neurologic cases in humans. The main USUV natural hosts are birds, but infection has also been reported in other vertebrate species, including humans. The fast spread of the virus through the continent, the relatively high mortality caused in birds, and the recent neuroinvasive human cases related to USUV infection reported in Europe have raised serious concerns about its possible consequences for public health. Here, an updated review of current knowledge about this emerging pathogen is presented. Keywords: Usutu virus, flavivirus, host cell-virus interactions, surveillance, prophylaxis Biology of the virus Molecular classification and phylogenyUsutu virus (USUV) is a member of the Flavivirus genus within the Flaviviridae family ( Figure 1A). In 2004, the complete genomic sequences of two USUV strains, one African (South Africa-1959) and one European (Vienna-2001), were used to build a phylogenetic tree. These two strains showed a 97% and 99% homology at the nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) level, respectively.1 Both strains were closely related to Murray valley encephalitis virus (73% and 82% nt and aa similarity), Japanese encephalitis virus (71% and 81% nt and aa similarity), and to West Nile virus (WNV; 68% and 75% nt and aa similarity). Nowadays, dozens of complete sequences are available in the data banks. In a recent study, the sequence identity among seven USUV strains was 96%-99% and 99% at the nt and aa levels, respectively.2 The only exception was a 1969 isolate from Central African Republic (CAR-1969) that presented homologies of 81% and 94% at the nt and aa levels with other African sequences ( Figure 1B). Due to these differences, it has been suggested that CAR-1969 formed an USUV subtype strain.3 A comparison with the original South African SAAR-1776 strain showed that the mutations found among different European and African strains were scattered throughout the genome, with some unique substitutions and some that were present

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Section: Humansmentioning

confidence: 98%

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

Saiz¹,

Blázquez²

2017

VAAT

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“…In 2001, it was confirmed in Austria and has since been detected in other places in Europe. It has been found in a German blood donor and is suspected to be more frequent than WNV in some regions . A possible case of TT Usutu fever has been reported in Italy .…”

Section: Some Current Eids Relevant For Blood Safetymentioning

confidence: 98%

Emerging infectious diseases and blood donation

Kjerulff

Erikstrup

2018

ISBT Science Series

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Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) require vigilance from blood banks everywhere. As EIDs spread to new areas and populations, blood banks are forced to re‐evaluate safety measures continually. Screening, pathogen inactivation and deferral policies must be balanced against supply, safety and cost‐effectiveness. One size does not fit all, and blood banks must adjust to local needs and conditions when considering initiation or halting of screening, pathogen inactivation or deferral procedures to balance between demand/supply, safety and economy.

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“…During the next 2 decades, USUV was observed in several countries in Europe as responsible for periodic small epizootic outbreaks affecting birds ( 2 , 12 ). In Germany, the earliest observation of USUV was in 2010 in mosquitoes ( 13 ) and resulted in mass deaths of common blackbirds ( 12 , 14 ) and at least 2 human USUV infections ( 4 , 6 ). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Usutu Virus in Germany and Its Effect on Breeding Bird Populations

Lühken¹,

Jöst²,

Cadar³

et al. 2017

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquitoborne flavivirus with an increasing number of reports from several countries in Europe, where USUV infection has caused high avian mortality rates. However, 20 years after the first observed outbreak of USUV in Europe, there is still no reliable assessment of the large-scale impact of USUV outbreaks on bird populations. In this study, we identified the areas suitable for USUV circulation in Germany and analyzed the effects of USUV on breeding bird populations. We calculated the USUV-associated additional decline of common blackbird (Turdus merula) populations as 15.7% inside USUV-suitable areas but found no significant effect for the other 14 common bird species investigated. Our results show that the emergence of USUV is a further threat for birds in Europe and that the large-scale impact on population levels, at least for common blackbirds, must be considered.

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Blood donor screening for West Nile virus (WNV) revealed acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection, Germany, September 2016

Cited by 79 publications

References 17 publications

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

Usutu virus: current knowledge and future perspectives

Emerging infectious diseases and blood donation

Distribution of Usutu Virus in Germany and Its Effect on Breeding Bird Populations

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