title: Clinical diagnosis of West Nile Fever in Equids by classification and regression tree (CART) analysis and comparative study of clinical appearance in three European countries.
abstract: This retrospective study describes risk/protection factors for the development of clinical West Nile Fever (WNF) in equids, compares clinical presentation in three European countries, France, Italy and Hungary, and creates classification and regression trees (CART) to facilitate clinical diagnosis. The peak of WNF occurrence was observed in September whatever the country. A significant difference between Italy and France was observed in the delay between initial clinical signs and veterinary consultation. No clinical sign was significantly associated with WNF. Despite similar clinical presentations in the three countries, occurrence of hyperthermia was more frequently reported in France. Classification and regression tree demonstrated the major importance of geographical locality and month to reach a diagnosis and emphasized differences in predominant clinical signs depending on the period of detection of the suspected case (epizootic or not). However, definite diagnosis requires specific serological tests. Centralized reporting system and time-space risk mapping should be promoted in every country.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Infectious and Parasitic diseases, Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis applied to Veterinary Sciences, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leblond
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lecollinet
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tritz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantile
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kutasi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zientara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pradier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Galen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Speybroek
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saegerman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D018397:Equidae; D005060:Europe; D005843:Geography; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral