Publication details
Novel flavivirus or new lineage of West Nile virus, Central Europe
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2005 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Emerging Infectious Diseases |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no02/04-1028.htm |
| Keywords | Rabensburg; south Moravia; mosquito-borne virus; West Nile virus; sequencing; complete genome |
| Description | A flavivirus (strain 97-103) was isolated from Culex pipens mosquitoes in 1997 following floods in South Moravia, Czech Republic. The strain exhibited close antigenic relationship to West Nile virus (WNV) prototype strain Eg-101 in a cross-neutralization test. In this study, mouse pathogenicity characteristics and the complete nucleotide and putative amino acid sequences of isolate 97-103, named Rabensburg virus (RabV) after a nearby Austrian city, were determined. RabV shares only 75%-77% nucleotide identity and 89%-90% amino acid identity with representative strains of WNV lineages 1 and 2. Another RabV strain (99-222) was isolated in the same location two years later; it showed >99% nucleotide identity to strain 97-103. Phylogenetic analyses of RabV, WNV strains, and other members of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) complex clearly demonstrated that RabV is either a new (third) lineage of WNV or a novel flavivirus of the JEV group. |