scholarly journals West Nile virus in Portugal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Lourenço ◽  
Sílvia C Barros ◽  
Líbia Zé-Zé ◽  
Daniel SC Damineli ◽  
Marta Giovanetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Serological Evidence ◽  
The South ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North

AbstractBackgroundWest Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen with a globally expanding geographical range. Many European countries regularly report outbreaks affecting both human and equine populations, with an increase in epidemic activity in the past decade. Portugal, on the far west of Europe, has not yet experienced large outbreaks of WNV, despite its suitable Mediterranean climate.ObjectivesTo provide a comprehensive, data-driven perspective on the past epidemiology, surveillance and transmission suitability of WNV in Portugal.MethodsLiterature and database reviews were performed, covering the period between 1966 and 2020 on existing evidence for WNV circulation. Climatic data was used to estimate the theoretical transmission potential of WNV, and to analyse long-term climate trends between 1981 and 2019.ResultsExisting data show that WNV-capable mosquito species are spread across the country, while WNV molecular and serological evidence is vastly concentrated in the south. Our analyses suggest that two different climate types, characteristic of the north and south of Portugal, contribute to quantitative differences in WNV theoretical transmission potential. This supports the north-south divide observed from previous molecular and serological evidence. Due to long-term changes in local climate, suitability for WNV transmission is shown to have been slowly increasing in the country.DiscussionData and theoretical analyses support the notion that the south of Portugal is more suitable for WNV transmission, while not rejecting the possibility of transmission in the north. Mosquito monitoring has been effective, but surveillance of key sentinel species remains passive, creating important knowledge gaps for epidemic control and public health. To date, evidence supports WNV circulation, but it remains unclear whether it is endemic or sporadically transmitted. This study supports a timely change towards WNV active surveillance, to avoid and mitigate potential public health emergencies as those recently observed in other European countries.

scholarly journals West Nile virus transmission potential in Portugal

2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Lourenço ◽  
Sílvia C. Barros ◽  
Líbia Zé-Zé ◽  
Daniel S. C. Damineli ◽  
Marta Giovanetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The South ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
Land Type ◽  
The North ◽  
West Nile Virus Transmission

AbstractIt is unclear whether West Nile virus (WNV) circulates endemically in Portugal. Despite the country’s adequate climate for transmission, Portugal has only reported four human WNV infections so far. We performed a review of WNV-related data (1966–2020), explored mosquito (2016–2019) and land type distributions (1992–2019), and used climate data (1981–2019) to estimate WNV transmission suitability in Portugal. Serological and molecular evidence of WNV circulation from animals and vectors was largely restricted to the south. Land type and climate-driven transmission suitability distributions, but not the distribution of WNV-capable vectors, were compatible with the North-South divide present in serological and molecular evidence of WNV circulation. Our study offers a comprehensive, data-informed perspective and review on the past epidemiology, surveillance and climate-driven transmission suitability of WNV in Portugal, highlighting the south as a subregion of importance. Given the recent WNV outbreaks across Europe, our results support a timely change towards local, active surveillance.

scholarly journals Extension of Sylvatic Circulation of African Swine Fever Virus in Extralimital Warthogs in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony F. Craig ◽  
Mathilde L. Schade-Weskott ◽  
Henry J. Harris ◽  
Livio Heath ◽  
Gideon J. P. Kriel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
African Swine Fever Virus ◽  
African Swine Fever ◽  
Fever Virus ◽  
Serological Evidence ◽  
The South ◽  
Domestic Pigs ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North

Sylvatic circulation of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in warthogs and Ornithodoros ticks that live in warthog burrows historically occurred in northern South Africa. Outbreaks of the disease in domestic pigs originated in this region. A controlled area was declared in the north in 1935 and regulations were implemented to prevent transfer of potentially infected suids or products to the rest of the country. However, over the past six decades, warthogs have been widely translocated to the south where the extralimital animals have flourished to become an invasive species. Since 2016, there have been outbreaks of ASF in pigs outside the controlled area that cannot be linked to transfer of infected animals or products from the north. An investigation in 2008–2012 revealed that the presence of Ornithodoros ticks and ASFV in warthog burrows extended marginally across the boundary of the controlled area. We found serological evidence of ASFV circulation in extralimital warthogs further south in the central part of the country.

scholarly journals Seasonal Phenological Patterns and Flavivirus Vectorial Capacity of Medically Important Mosquito Species in a Wetland and an Urban Area of Attica, Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Stavroula Beleri ◽  
Georgios Balatsos ◽  
Vasilios Karras ◽  
Nikolaos Tegos ◽  
Fani Sereti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Vectorial Capacity ◽  
Adult Mosquito ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
The South ◽  
Public Health Importance ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Usutu Virus

Seasonal patterns of mosquito population density and their vectorial capacity constitute major elements to understand the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases. Using adult mosquito traps, we compared the population dynamics of major mosquito species (Culex pipiens, Aedes albopictus, Anopheles spp.) in an urban and a wetland rural area of Attica Greece. Pools of the captured Cx. pipiens were analyzed to determine infection rates of the West Nile virus (WNV) and the Usutu virus (USUV). The data provided were collected under the frame of the surveillance program carried out in two regional units (RUs) of the Attica region (East Attica and South Sector of Attica), during the period 2017–2018. The entomological surveillance of adult mosquitoes was performed on a weekly basis using a network of BG-sentinel traps (BGs), baited with CO2 and BG-Lure, in selected, fixed sampling sites. A total of 46,726 adult mosquitoes were collected, with larger variety and number of species in East Attica (n = 37,810), followed by the South Sector of Attica (n = 8916). The collected mosquitoes were morphologically identified to species level and evaluated for their public health importance. Collected Cx. pipiens adults were pooled and tested for West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) presence by implementation of a targeted molecular methodology (real-time PCR). A total of 366 mosquito pools were analyzed for WNV and USUV, respectively, and 38 (10.4%) positive samples were recorded for WNV, while no positive pool was detected for USUV. The majority of positive samples for WNV were detected in the East Attica region, followed by the South Sector of Attica, respectively. The findings of the current study highlight the WNV circulation in the region of Attica and the concomitant risk for the country, rendering mosquito surveillance actions and integrated mosquito management programs as imperative public health interventions.

scholarly journals Morbidity, mortality and long-term sequelae of West Nile virus disease in Québec

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (7) ◽  
pp. 867-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Ouhoumanne ◽  
A-M. Lowe ◽  
A. Fortin ◽  
D. Kairy ◽  
A. Vibien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Symptom Onset ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Severe Illness ◽  
West Nile Fever ◽  
West Nile

AbstractWe aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of West Nile patients reported in Québec in 2012 and 2013 and to document physical, mental and functional status 24 months after symptom onset according to illness severity. The cases were recruited by a public health professional. Data were collected from public health files, medical records and two standardised phone questionnaires: the Short Form-36 and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. In all, 92 persons participated in the study (25 had West Nile fever (WNF), 18 had meningitis and 49 had encephalitis). Encephalitis participants were older, had more underlying medical conditions, more neurological symptoms, worse hospital course and higher lethality than meningitis or WNF participants. Nearly half of the surviving hospitalised encephalitis patients required extra support upon discharge. At 24-month follow-up, encephalitis and meningitis patients had a lower score in two domains of the mental component: mental health and social functioning (P = 0.0025 and 0.0297, respectively) compared with the norms based on age- and sex-matched Canadians. Physical status was not affected by West Nile virus (WNV) infection. In addition, 5/36 (15%) of encephalitis, 1/17 (6%) of meningitis and 1/23 (5%) of WNF participants had new functional limitations 24 months after symptom onset. In summary, mental and functional sequelae in encephalitis patients are likely to represent a source of long-term morbidity. Preventive measures should target patients at higher risk of severe illness after WNV infection.

The India–China Confrontation: A View from Seawards

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76
Author(s):  
Admiral (Retd) Arun Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Political Leadership ◽  
False Belief ◽  
The South ◽  
Strategic Objectives ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Actual Control

Most Indians assumed that India’s humiliating military defeat at China’s hands in 1962 had jolted its political leadership out of its complacency, engendered by naïve beliefs in the commonality of China’s and India’s aims and aspirations. The current tense confrontation between Indian and Chinese forces in the remote Himalayan wastes of Ladakh, climaxing in the June 2020 sanguinary clash, therefore, came as a rude re-awakening for the Indian public. It is now obvious that over the past three decades, India’s politico-diplomatic establishment has been lulled into the false belief that parleys and summit meetings could ensure peace and tranquillity across the undefined ‘line of actual control’. They also seem oblivious of the fact that growing naval pressure from the south, coupled with existing military pressure in the north, could have ominous security implications for India. Amidst the prevailing perplexity, this essay is a modest attempt to cast some light on the rationale and motivation behind China’s actions and its long-term strategic objectives with a focus on its grandiose maritime ambitions.

Patterns in the Data across England

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-104
Author(s):  
Letty ten Harkel ◽  
Anwen Cooper ◽  
Victoria Donnelly ◽  
Chris Gosden ◽  
Chris Green ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Ways Of Life

We look at regional variability in the manner in which archaeologists have worked, regional differences in the types of evidence found, and how we can understand different ways of life across England in the past with some long-term continuities to these differences. Overall, we see a broad distinction between the south and east and the north and west, with fewer artefacts in the latter region and perhaps also more mobile ways of life in many periods. We also present a series of case studies, designed to give more detailed insights into a large number of contrasting areas across England, adding nuance to the broad distinctions identified above.

scholarly journals The Global Ecology and Epidemiology of West Nile Virus

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caren Chancey ◽  
Andriyan Grinev ◽  
Evgeniya Volkova ◽  
Maria Rios
Keyword(s):  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Animal Disease ◽  
West Nile ◽  
The Public ◽  
Enveloped Virus ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Infections

Since its initial isolation in Uganda in 1937 through the present, West Nile virus (WNV) has become an important cause of human and animal disease worldwide. WNV, an enveloped virus of the genusFlavivirus, is naturally maintained in an enzootic cycle between birds and mosquitoes, with occasional epizootic spillover causing disease in humans and horses. The mosquito vectors for WNV are widely distributed worldwide, and the known geographic range of WNV transmission and disease has continued to increase over the past 77 years. While most human infections with WNV are asymptomatic, severe neurological disease may develop resulting in long-term sequelae or death. Surveillance and preventive measures are an ongoing need to reduce the public health impact of WNV in areas with the potential for transmission.

scholarly journals Serological evidence of West Nile Virus (WNV) in mammalian species in Turkey

2005 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 826-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. OZKUL ◽  
Y. YILDIRIM ◽  
D. PINAR ◽  
A. AKCALI ◽  
V. YILMAZ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Serological Evidence ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Long Term Survival ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Overt Disease

In this study, the sera collected from a variety of mammalian species (ass-mules, cat, cattle, dog, horse, human and sheep) in 10 representative provinces of Turkey, were surveyed for the presence of neutralizing antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV). Overall, 1 of 40 (2·5%) ass-mules, 4 of 100 (4%) cattle, 43 of 114 (37·7%) dogs, 35 of 259 (13·5%) horses, 18 of 88 (20·4%) humans and 1 of 100 (1%) sheep, tested positive for WNV-neutralizing antibodies. The results indicate that a wide range of mammals are exposed to a West Nile-related virus and this could contribute to the long-term survival of this virus in the absence of overt disease.

scholarly journals Ambassadors of the Sensible World

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélien Gamboni
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The South ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Art And Design ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
South Of Brazil ◽  
Ecological Transition

We may work on things, but the opposite is perhaps even more true: things work on us. Reflecting on several projects of art and research that I have been involved in over the past years, which address different aspects of the environmental mutations currently in process, this paper will aim to partly divert from a usual focus on the deliberate intentions and goals that we can set ourselves as authors, rather observing how various objects of concern can progressively grow in our conscience and in our practice, calling for new transdisciplinary and investigative tools. These projects include the observation of a negotiation summit re-enacted at SciencesPo Paris in 2012, during which the « specter » of climate change seemed to appear in the room as an almost physical presence; the long term artistic research project « A tale as a tool » developed with anthropologist and writer Sandrine Teixido, involving a text of fiction as an investigative object of mediation, allowing to collect testimonies by members of frontline communities from the South of Brazil to the North of Norway; and the research project « The Anthropocene Atlas of Geneva » at Geneva school of Art and Design, gathering self-reflexive interviews with numerous scientists, artists and other actors of the ecological transition.

scholarly journals West Nile virus surveillance in Europe: moving towards an integrated animal-human-vector approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline M Gossner ◽  
Laurence Marrama ◽  
Marianne Carson ◽  
Franz Allerberger ◽  
Paolo Calistri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Vector Surveillance ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Zoonotic Infections ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities

This article uses the experience of five European countries to review the integrated approaches (human, animal and vector) for surveillance and monitoring of West Nile virus (WNV) at national and European levels. The epidemiological situation of West Nile fever in Europe is heterogeneous. No model of surveillance and monitoring fits all, hence this article merely encourages countries to implement the integrated approach that meets their needs. Integration of surveillance and monitoring activities conducted by the public health authorities, the animal health authorities and the authorities in charge of vector surveillance and control should improve efficiency and save resources by implementing targeted measures. The creation of a formal interagency working group is identified as a crucial step towards integration. Blood safety is a key incentive for public health authorities to allocate sufficient resources for WNV surveillance, while the facts that an effective vaccine is available for horses and that most infected animals remain asymptomatic make the disease a lesser priority for animal health authorities. The examples described here can support other European countries wishing to strengthen their WNV surveillance or preparedness, and also serve as a model for surveillance and monitoring of other (vector-borne) zoonotic infections.

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