Serological study on WNV presence in horses in Vojvodina after the human outbreak in Serbia in 2012

• Published in: Archives of biological sciences Vol. 66; no. 2; pp. 473 - 481
• Main Authors: Petrovic, T., Lazic, S., Lupulovic, Diana, Lazic, Gospava, Bugarski, D., Vidanovic, D., Stefan-Mikic, Sandra, Milosevic, Vesna, Hrnjakovic-Cvetkovic, Ivana, Petric, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad 2014
• Subjects: horses; mosquitoes; RT-PCR; Serbia; serology; WNV
• ISSN: 0354-4664; 1821-4339
• DOI: 10.2298/ABS1402473P

To establish the presence of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in the animal
population in Serbia after the human WNV outbreak, the presence of anti-WNV
IgG antibodies was examined by commercial ELISA of blood sera samples of 130
horses collected in 2012 from 6 stables and 1 settlement in Vojvodina
Province, northern Serbia. During the blood sampling, hibernating mosquitoes
in the vicinity of the sampled horses were collected (31 pools from 4
locations) and tested for WNV presence by real-time RT-PCR. The presence of
anti-WNV antibodies was observed in 49.23% (64/130) horses. Per stable, the
percent of seropositive animals ranged from 35% to 64%. All 31 analyzed pools
of hibernating mosquitoes tested negative for WNV RNA. The WNV-antibody
prevalence of 49.23% obtained in horses during 2012 was much higher than the
prevalence (12%) found in horses during 2009/2010. These results, including
the confirmed seroconversion in eight horses that tested negative in 2010,
indicated an intensive WNV circulation during 2012 in Serbia, and the
necessity of implementing surveillance programs.