title: Evidence of West Nile virus lineage 2 circulation in Northern Italy.
abstract: A West Nile virus (WNV) strain belonging to lineage 2 was for the first time detected in two pools of Culex pipiens collected in the province of Udine and in tissues of a wild collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) found dead in the province of Treviso, in North East of Italy. It was molecularly identified by group and WNV lineage specific RT-PCRs and characterized by partial sequencing of the NS3 and NS5 genes. When compared with the sequences of same fragments of NS3 and NS5 of the WNV lineage 2 strain isolated from birds of prey in Hungary (2004), the phylogenetic analysis of these sequences revealed 100% and 99% similarity, respectively. As the Hungarian strain, the NS3 selected sequence differed from the 2010 Greek isolate by one amino-acid located at 249 site which is the site involved in genetic modulation of WNV pathogenicity. The Italian and Hungarian strains have histidine rather than proline at this site. The presence of a lineage 2 strain in regions where the lineage 1 strain is still circulating, creates a new scenario with unpredictable consequences. In this situation comprehensive investigations on the occurrence, ecology, and epidemiology of these different WNV strains circulating in Italy become the highest priority.
authors.affiliation: Istituto G. Caporale Teramo, Via Campo Boario, 64100 Teramo, Italy. g.savini@izs.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capelli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Monaco
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polci
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Gennaro
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teodori
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montarsi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinoni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pisciella
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Terregino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marangon
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capua
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology; D006814:Hungary; D007558:Italy; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000821:virology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases
chemical_list: D020365:RNA Helicases; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C060028:NS3 protein, flavivirus; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases; C096041:NS5 protein, flavivirus