Screening of Mosquitoes for West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus in Croatia, 2015–2020

In the period from 2015 to 2020, an entomological survey for the presence of West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) in mosquitoes was performed in northwestern Croatia. A total of 20,363 mosquitoes were sampled in the City of Zagreb and Međimurje county, grouped in 899 pools and tested by real...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ana Klobucar, Vladimir Savic, Marcela Curman Posavec, Suncica Petrinic, Urska Kuhar, Ivan Toplak, Josip Madic, Tatjana Vilibic-Cavlek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/6/2/45
Description
Summary:In the period from 2015 to 2020, an entomological survey for the presence of West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) in mosquitoes was performed in northwestern Croatia. A total of 20,363 mosquitoes were sampled in the City of Zagreb and Međimurje county, grouped in 899 pools and tested by real-time RT-PCR for WNV and USUV RNA. All pools were negative for WNV while one pool each from 2016 (<i>Aedes albopictus</i>), 2017 (<i>Culex pipiens</i> complex), 2018 (<i>Cx. pipiens</i> complex), and 2019 (<i>Cx. pipiens</i> complex), respectively, was positive for USUV. The 2018 and 2019 positive pools shared 99.31% nucleotide homology within the USUV NS5 gene and both clustered within USUV Europe 2 lineage. The next-generation sequencing of one mosquito pool (<i>Cx. pipiens</i> complex) collected in 2018 in Zagreb confirmed the presence of USUV and revealed several dsDNA and ssRNA viruses of insect, bacterial and mammalian origin.
ISSN:2414-6366