title: Widespread Usutu virus outbreak in birds in the Netherlands, 2016.
abstract: We report a widespread Usutu virus outbreak in birds in the Netherlands. Viral presence had been detected through targeted surveillance as early as April 2016 and increased mortality in common blackbirds and captive great grey owls was noticed from August 2016 onwards. Usutu virus infection was confirmed by post-mortem examination and RT-PCR. Extensive Usutu virus activity in the Netherlands in 2016 underlines the need to monitor mosquito activity and mosquito-borne infections in 2017 and beyond.
authors.affiliation: Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|These authors contributed equally to the work.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rijks
authors.affiliation: Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|These authors contributed equally to the work.|Veterinary Pathology Diagnostic Centre (VPDC), Division of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kik
authors.affiliation: Sovon, Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slaterus
authors.affiliation: Sovon, Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Animal Ecology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rpb
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foppen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Monitoring of Vectors (CMV), National Reference Centre (NRC), Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), Ministry of Economic Affairs, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stroo
authors.affiliation: Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Veterinary Pathology Diagnostic Centre (VPDC), Division of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: IJzer
authors.affiliation: Sovon, Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.affiliation: Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Veterinary Pathology Diagnostic Centre (VPDC), Division of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gröne
authors.affiliation: ErasmusMC, Department of Viroscience, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mgp
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koopmans
authors.affiliation: Vogeltrekstation - Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: van der Jeugd
authors.affiliation: ErasmusMC, Department of Viroscience, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cbem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reusken
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001483:Base Sequence; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D001717:Birds; D009033:Culicidae / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018177:Flavivirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Flaviviridae; Usutu virus; common blackbird (Turdus merula); great grey owl (Strix nebulosa); outbreaks; vector-borne infections