Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Tech, VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
Virology. 2021 Mar;555:64-70. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2020.12.023. Epub 2021 Jan 7.
Usutu virus (USUV; Flavivirus) has caused massive die-offs in birds across Europe since the 1950s. Although rare, severe neurologic disease in humans has been reported. USUV is genetically related to West Nile virus (WNV) and shares an ecological niche, suggesting it could spread from Europe to the Americas. USUV's risk of transmission within the United States is currently unknown. To this end, we exposed field-caught Aedes japonicus, Culex pipiens pipiens, and Culex restuans-competent vectors for WNV-to a recent European isolate of USUV. While infection rates for each species varied from 7%-21%, no dissemination or transmission was observed. These results differed from a 2018 report by Cook and colleagues, who found high dissemination rates and evidence of transmission potential using a different USUV strain, U.S. mosquito populations, temperature, and extrinsic incubation period. Future studies should evaluate the impact of these experimental conditions on USUV transmission by North American mosquitoes.
自 20 世纪 50 年代以来，乌苏图病毒（USUV；黄病毒）已导致欧洲大量鸟类死亡。尽管罕见，但已有严重的人类神经系统疾病报告。USUV 在基因上与西尼罗河病毒（WNV）有关，具有相同的生态位，表明它可能从欧洲传播到美洲。USUV 在美国境内传播的风险目前尚不清楚。为此，我们用最近分离到的欧洲 USUV 病毒株感染了野外捕获的日本伊蚊、致倦库蚊和库蚊，这三种蚊子都是WNV 的易感传播媒介。尽管每种蚊子的感染率从 7%-21%不等，但未观察到传播或传播。这些结果与 Cook 及其同事在 2018 年的报告不同，他们使用不同的 USUV 株、美国蚊子种群、温度和外生孵育期，发现了高传播率和传播潜力的证据。未来的研究应评估这些实验条件对北美蚊子传播 USUV 的影响。
