title: Susceptibility of European jackdaws (Corvus monedula) to experimental infection with lineage 1 and 2 West Nile viruses.
abstract: Mass bird mortality has been observed in North America after the introduction of West Nile virus (WNV), most notably massive die-offs of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). In contrast, WNV epidemic activity in Europe has been characterized by very low incidences of bird mortality. As the general susceptibility of European corvids to strains of WNV remains in question, European jackdaws (Corvus monedula) were inoculated with WNV strains circulating currently in Greece (Greece-10), Italy (FIN and Ita09) and Hungary (578/10), as well as a North American (NY99) genotype with a demonstrated corvid virulence phenotype. Infection with all strains except WNV-FIN resulted in mortality. Viraemia was observed for birds inoculated with all strains and virus was detected in a series of organs upon necropsy. These results suggested that jackdaws could potentially function as a sentinel for following WNV transmission in Europe; however, elicited viraemia levels might be too low to allow for efficient transmission of virus to mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Brault
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Amerongen
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Varsha D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Sewbalaksing
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert D M E
authors.initials: ADME
authors.lastname: Osterhaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Byron E E
authors.initials: BEE
authors.lastname: Martina
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koraka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D046368:Crows / Q000821:virology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005060:Europe; D058507:Host Specificity; D009928:Organ Specificity; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance / Q000662:veterinary; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D019562:Viral Load; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014766:Viremia / Q000662:veterinary; D014774:Virulence; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; 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