West Nile Virus Antibody Prevalence in Horses of Ukraine

ZIEGLER U, SKRYPNYK A, KELLER M, STAUBACH C, BEZYMENNYI M, DAMIANI AM, OSTERRIEDER N, GROSCHUP MH

Viruses

Viruses

Año: 2013 p. 2469 - 2482

1999-4915

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus of global importance. Overthe last two decades, it has been responsible for significant numbers of cases of illness inhumans and animals in many parts of the world. In Ukraine, WNV infections in humansand birds were first reported more than 25 years ago, yet the current epidemiological statusis quite unclear. In this study, serum samples from over 300 equines were collected andscreened in order to detect current WNV activity in Ukraine with the goal to estimate therisk of infection for humans and horses. Sera were tested byenzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA) and virus neutralization assay (NT) to detect WNV-specificantibodies. The results clearly revealed that WNV circulates in most of the regions fromwhich samples were obtained, shown by a WNV seroprevalence rate of 13.5% of examinedhorses. This is the first topical report indicating the presence of WNV infections in horses in Ukraine, and the results of this study provide evidence of a widespread WNV circulationin this country.