Diversity of West Nile and Usutu virus strains in mosquitoes at an international airport in Austria.

ABSTRACT: Increased globalization and international transportation have resulted in the inadvertent introduction of exotic mosquitoes and new mosquito-borne diseases. International airports are among the possible points of entry for mosquitoes and their pathogens. We established a mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases monitoring programme at the largest international airport in Austria and report the results for the first two years, 2018 and 2019. This included weekly monitoring and sampling of adult mosquitoes, and screening them for the presence of viral nucleic acids by standard molecular diagnostic techniques. Additionally, we surveyed the avian community at the airport, as birds are potentially amplifying hosts. In 2018, West Nile virus (WNV) was detected in 14 pools and Usutu virus (USUV) was d

SUBMITTER: Bakran-Lebl K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9540796 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature