Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus.
Veterinary Services of Cyprus, Nicosia 1417, Cyprus.
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2021 Feb;74:101592. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2020.101592. Epub 2020 Nov 21.
West Nile Virus (WNV) is an emerging pathogen in Cyprus, with the first human case of infection reported in 2016, and another documented in 2018. A cluster of cases in humans was then reported in 2019. However, little is known regarding which avian species might bring WNV to Cyprus. Here, we investigated seroprevalence of WNV antibodies in migratory and resident birds, captured across Cyprus to assess to what extent human populations might be exposed to WNV. We used Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to test for the presence of WNV antibodies in 836 avian blood samples of 44 species captured between 2015 and 2020. A seropositivity rate of 1.3 % was found. The majority of seropositive wild birds belonged to the migratory species Sylvia atricapilla, a common and widespread migrant, implying a high risk of WNV being introduced throughout Cyprus.
西尼罗河病毒（WNV）在塞浦路斯是一种新出现的病原体，2016 年首次报告了人类感染病例，2018 年又报告了另一例。随后，2019 年报告了一起人类病例群集。然而，对于哪些鸟类可能将 WNV 带到塞浦路斯，人们知之甚少。在这里，我们调查了在塞浦路斯各地捕获的迁徙和留鸟中 WNV 抗体的血清流行率，以评估人类群体可能接触到 WNV 的程度。我们使用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）检测了 2015 年至 2020 年间捕获的 44 种 836 份鸟类血液样本中是否存在 WNV 抗体。发现血清阳性率为 1.3%。大多数血清阳性的野生鸟类属于迁徙物种 Sylvia atricapilla，这是一种常见且分布广泛的候鸟，这意味着 WNV 很有可能在整个塞浦路斯传播。
