title: Surveillance of maternal antibodies against West Nile virus in chicken eggs in South-West Germany.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) in several European countries increases the risk of its introduction to Germany. This study evaluated a new method for WNV surveillance by testing for maternal antibodies in chicken eggs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,990 eggs were collected in 35 sampling sites in the south-west of Germany and tested for WNV-specific antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results did not indicate evidence for WNV circulation in the study area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work serves as a proof-of-concept that such a method is useful and a potential alternative to use of sentinel chicken for regular WNV surveillance.
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Jessica
authors: J
authors: Börstler
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Dimitri
authors: D
authors: Engel
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Mathis
authors: M
authors: Petersen
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Poggensee
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Stephanie
authors: S
authors: Jansen
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.|German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Luebeck-Borstel, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Jonas
authors: J
authors: Schmidt-Chanasit
authors: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany.
authors: Renke
authors: R
authors: Lühken
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D004531:Eggs / Q000821:virology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Alemania; Allemagne; Germany; West Nile virus; anticorps maternels; anticuerpos maternos; chicken eggs; huevos de gallina; maternal antibodies; surveillance; vigilancia; virus del Nilo Occidental; virus du Nil occidental; œufs de poules