Blood donor West Nile virus screening identifies three autochthonous Usutu virus infections in Spain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Considering the increase of West Nile virus (WNV) circulation in Europe, blood banks perform WNV Nucleic Acid Test testing to ensure transfusion safety during the WNV transmission season. Usutu virus (USUV), an arbovirus related to WNV, has relevant molecular and serological cross-reactivity with WNV.

Study design and methods

During the 2024 WNV season in Europe, 15,957 blood donations from the Balearic Islands Blood Bank and 79,400 from the Catalonia Blood Bank were tested for WNV using the Cobas WNV real-time PCR (Roche Diagnostics, USA) and the Procleix WNV/Procleix ArboPlex transcription-mediated assays (Grifols Diagnostic Solutions Inc., USA), respectively. Serological tests for flavivirus, PCR using USUV- and WNV-specific primers, sequencing of viral RNA, an

SUBMITTER: Jimenez-Marco T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12857876 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature