title: The epidemic West Nile virus strain in Greece was a recent introduction.
abstract: To estimate the prevalence of West Nile virus (WNV) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in residents of northern Greece before the large outbreak of 2010, stored serum samples collected during 2003-2004 from 626 apparently healthy residents of northern Greece were tested. A seroprevalence of 0.62% was detected, with no statistically significant differences among the various prefectures, gender, and age groups, suggesting that the lineage 2 WNV strain that caused the outbreaks for 3 consecutive years was introduced recently. Data from the present study can be used as a threshold in future comparisons with respective data after the outbreaks to estimate and assess the public health impact, as well as for WNV evolutionary studies.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Arboviruses, Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Greece .
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dimou
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerou
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011634:Public Health; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G