title: Surveillance of tick-borne encephalitis virus in wild birds and ticks in Tomsk city and its suburbs (Western Siberia).
abstract: To study the role of wild birds in the transmission of tick borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), we investigated randomly captured wild birds bearing ixodid ticks in a very highly endemic TBE region located in Tomsk city and its suburbs in the south of Western Siberia, Russia. The 779 wild birds representing 60 species were captured carrying a total of 841 ticks, Ixodes pavlovskyi Pom., 1946 (n=531), Ixodes persulcatus P. Sch., 1930 (n=244), and Ixodes plumbeus Leach. 1815 (n=66). The highest average number of ticks per bird in a particular species was found for the fieldfare (Turdus pilaris Linnaeus, 1758) (5.60 ticks/bird) and the tree pipit (Anthus trivialis Linnaeus, 1758) (13.25 ticks/bird). Samples from wild birds and ticks collected in highly endemic periods from 2006 to 2011 were tested for the TBEV markers using monoclonal modified enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and RT-PCR. TBEV RNA and antigen were found in 9.7% and 22.8% samples collected from wild birds, respectively. TBEV markers were also detected in 14.1% I. persulcatus ticks, 5.2% I. pavlovskyi, and 4.2% I. plumbeus ticks collected from wild birds. Two TBEV strains were also isolated on PKE (pig kidney embryo) cells from fieldfare and Blyth's reed warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum Blyth, 1849). Sequencing of 5'-NCR of TBEV revealed that all TBEV isolates belong to Far Eastern (dominate) and Siberian genotypes. Several phylogenetic subgroups included TBEV sequences novel for the Tomsk region. Our data suggest that wild birds are potential disseminators of TBEV, TBEV-infected ixodid ticks, and possibly other tick-borne infections.
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Tamara P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Mikryukova
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Nina S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Moskvitina
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Yulia V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Kononova
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Igor G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Korobitsyn
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Mikhail Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kartashov
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Oleg Y
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Tyuten Kov
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Elena V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Protopopova
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Romanenko
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Evgeny V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Chausov
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Sergey I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Gashkov
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Svetlana N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Konovalova
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Sergey S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Moskvitin
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalya L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Tupota
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexandra O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Sementsova
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Ternovoi
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Department of Molecular Virology for Flaviviruses and Viral Hepatitis, Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russia. Electronic address: loktev@vector.nsc.ru.
authors.forename: Valery B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Loktev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005838:Genotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012800:Siberia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013987:Ticks / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral
keywords: Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris); Ixodes pavlovskyi; Ixodes persulcatus; Ixodid ticks; Tick borne encephalitis virus; Tomsk; Wild birds