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. 2019 Jan;24(1):1800662.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.1.1800662.

Epidemiologic and phylogenetic analysis of the 2018 West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in Israel demonstrates human infection of WNV lineage I

Yaniv Lustig  1 , Ruslan Gosinov  2 , Neta Zuckerman  1 , Yael Glazer  2 , Laor Orshan  3 , Danit Sofer  1 , Eli Schwartz  4   5 , Gili Schvartz  6 , Yigal Farnoushi  6 , Avishai Lublin  6 , Oran Erster  6 , Uri Shalom  7 , Tamar Yeger  7 , Orna Mor  1   5 , Emilia Anis  2   8 , Ella Mendelson  1   5
Affiliations

Epidemiologic and phylogenetic analysis of the 2018 West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in Israel demonstrates human infection of WNV lineage I

Yaniv Lustig et al. Euro Surveill. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

As at 12 November 2018, an outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) was responsible for 139 WNV infection cases in Israel. Here, we characterise the epidemiology of the outbreak and demonstrate that only WNV lineage I was circulating in mosquitoes and responsible for WNV infection in humans. This suggests that the concurrence of the outbreak in Israel with WNV outbreaks in several European countries is not due to a common, more virulent WNV genotype.

Keywords: Israel; One Health; WNV; WNV lineage I; West Nile Neuro-invasive Disease; West Nile fever; West Nile virus; mosquitoes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of West Nile fever cases by epidemiological week of diagnosis, Israel, 2015–18
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spatial distribution of West Nile virus cases in humans, equine, birds and mosquitoes, Israel, 2018
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree of West Nile virus outbreak strains, Israel, 2015 and 2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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