Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Apparently the West Nile Virus has been circulating in Greece for some time, causing human infections.
News on the current outbreak in this thread : http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150705
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 Aug 25.
West Nile Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies in Humans in Greece.
Abstract
Serum samples collected during March-May 2007 from 392 residents of Imathia prefecture, Northern Greece, were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IgG antibodies against West Nile virus (WNV). Microneutralization assay was applied in six positive samples.
Four (4/392, 1.02%) were found positive for WNV-neutralizing antibodies.
None of the positive individuals had a history of travel in endemic area or flavivirus vaccination, suggesting that WNV, or an antigenically related flavivirus, circulates in an endemic sylvatic cycle, at least locally, in rural areas in Greece.
Human, animal, and vector surveillance systems have to be implemented to provide an early detection of WNV activity in Greece.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20738157
News on the current outbreak in this thread : http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150705
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010 Aug 25.
West Nile Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies in Humans in Greece.
Abstract
Serum samples collected during March-May 2007 from 392 residents of Imathia prefecture, Northern Greece, were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IgG antibodies against West Nile virus (WNV). Microneutralization assay was applied in six positive samples.
Four (4/392, 1.02%) were found positive for WNV-neutralizing antibodies.
None of the positive individuals had a history of travel in endemic area or flavivirus vaccination, suggesting that WNV, or an antigenically related flavivirus, circulates in an endemic sylvatic cycle, at least locally, in rural areas in Greece.
Human, animal, and vector surveillance systems have to be implemented to provide an early detection of WNV activity in Greece.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20738157