title: The common coot as sentinel species for the presence of West Nile and Usutu flaviviruses in Central Europe.
abstract: We examined 146 common coots (Fulica atra) on fishponds in central Moravia, Czech Republic, for antibodies to West Nile (WNV) and Usutu (USUV) flaviviruses. Eighteen birds reacted in the plaque-reduction neutralization test against WNV; these WNV seropositive samples were then titrated in parallel against USUV and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) to exclude flavivirus cross-reactivity. Two birds (1.4% overall) had the highest titers against WNV while 9 birds (6.2% overall) were seropositive for USUV, and in 7 birds the infecting flavivirus could not be differentiated with certainty. Our results indicate that both WNV and USUV infections occur in common coots; these birds might serve as a 'sentinel' species indicating the presence of these viruses at fishpond and wetland habitats in Central Europe.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Straková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Silvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Šikutová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jedličková
authors.affiliation: Comenius Museum, Ornithological Station, Přerov, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiljí
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sitko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: rudolf@ivb.cz.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rudolf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology v.v.i., Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdenek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hubálek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds / Q000821:virology; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance
keywords: Common coot; Culex spp.; Fulica atra; Mosquito-borne viruses; Surveillance; Usutu virus; West Nile virus