title: Phylogenetic relationships of West Nile viruses isolated from birds and horses in Israel from 1997 to 2001.
abstract: In November 1997, an outbreak of a neuroparalytic disease caused by West Nile (WN) virus was diagnosed in young goose flocks. Domestic geese were similarly affected in the late summer and fall of 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. WN viruses were also isolated from migratory and wild birds and horses in 1998-2001. A 1278 bp sequence of the envelope gene of 24 Israeli WN virus isolates was compared with those of seven isolates from Africa, Europe and New York. As a result, the Israeli isolates could then be grouped into two clusters. The 15 avian and three equine from 1997-2001 in the first cluster of viruses were shown to be identical to WN-NY99, while the second cluster comprised one goose isolate from 1998 and two goose and two pigeon isolates from 2000. These closely resembled the most recent Old World isolates, and indicate that at least two WN genotypes were co-circulating in the region during this time.
authors.affiliation: Kimron Veterinary Institute, Belt Dagan, Israel. carolinb@moag.gov.il
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Banet-Noach
authors.forename: Mertyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malkinson
authors.forename: Assaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brill
authors.forename: Isak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Samina
authors.forename: Hagai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yadin
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pokamunski
authors.forename: Roni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deubel
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Stram
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006736:Horses / Q000821:virology*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013997:Time Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins