title: Further evidence of lineage 2 West Nile Virus in Culex pipiens of North-Eastern Italy.
abstract: West Nile Virus lineage 1 (WNV lin1) emerged in North-Eastern Italy in 2008 and, since then, it has been detected in animals, humans and mosquitoes. Three years later, in the same area, a lineage 2 (lin2) strain of WNV was found in birds and vectors. On August the 21st, during the 2012 WNV entomological surveillance plan, a WNV lin2 strain was detected by RT-PCR in a pool of Culex pipiens mosquitoes captured in Veneto region. According to the alignment of the partial sequences of the NS5 and NS3 genes, no differences between this Italian lineage 2 strain and the Nea Santa-Greece-2010 WNV isolate (Gr-10) were observed. Similarly to the Gr-10 strain, the putative NS3 amino acid sequences of the Italian strain showed proline in position 249 instead of histidine (H249P). Although proline in position 249 has been suggested to increase the virulence of WNV strains, neither human nor veterinary cases associated to this strain have been reported in the region. A prompt mosquito disinfestation was organized to avoid the spread of this potential threatening virus. The simultaneous circulation of both WNV lineage 1 and 2 confirms North-Eastern Italy as a high risk area for WNV emergence and highlights the need for a continuous surveillance.
authors.forename: Gioia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capelli
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ravagnan
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montarsi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fabrizio
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cazzin
authors.forename: Lebana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonfanti
authors.forename: Annapia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Gennaro
authors.forename: Ottavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Portanti
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mulatti
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Monne
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cattoli
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cester
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savini
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marangon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology*; D007558:Italy; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*