Zúñiga CIR, Lozano JC

Language: Spanish
References: 9
Page: 57-60
PDF size: 123.90 Kb.

ABSTRACT

The Usutu virus is a flavivirus that was isolated for the first time in South Africa in 1959. The reservoirs for USUV, which are similar to those of West Nile virus (WNV), include numerous species of birds and are transmitted mainly by Culex spp. Mosquitoes. It has been reported on the circulation of USUV in several countries in Africa, two human cases of infection in Africa have been identified in the years of 1981 and 2004. Since 1996 when USUV was first detected outside of Africa in a blackbird in Italy. The virus has been identified in mosquitoes and birds in several European countries. In recent years, evidence of human infection with USUV has increased; USUV antibodies and USUV RNA have been detected in blood donors. Despite its identification in 1959, USUV was not considered a possible public health concern until the early 2000s, when the first large bird outbreak occurred in Austria. Since 2009, some neurological disorders such as encephalitis, meningitis and meningoencephalitis have been found to be associated with USUV infection in immunocompromised patients. USUV is the cause of unexplained encephalitis in Italy, suggesting that the associated neurological cases for USUV may be more common than previously thought.

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