title: Experimental infection of Eurasian collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) with West Nile virus.
abstract: The Eurasian collared-dove (Streptopelia decaocto) has recently experienced a population explosion in North America. It is frequently infected with West Nile virus (WNV). To test the hypothesis that the Eurasian collared-dove is competent to transmit WNV, we experimentally infected two cohorts of doves with two different strains of WNV, CO08, and NY99, respectively. Both virus strains induced a low-level viremia, capable of infecting a small fraction of vector mosquitoes. We suggest that the Eurasian collared-dove plays a relatively insignificant role as an amplifying host for WNV, but it may be important where it is locally abundant.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector Borne Diseases, Arbovirus Diseases Branch, Fort Collins, CO 80521, U.S.A.. nap4@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Panella
authors.forename: Ginger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000821:virology; D010856:Columbidae / Q000821:virology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000472:pathogenicity*
keywords: Eurasian collared-dove; West Nile virus; amplification host; reservoir competence index; virus titer