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Pathogens
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West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections
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West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 16216

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shannon Ronca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Center for Human Immunobiology, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Interests: arbovirus pathogenesis and epidemiology; coronavirus pathogenesis; biosafety

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit an article about your current research related to West Nile virus and other zoonotic diseases of human and animal importance. Zoonotic diseases are an important group of agents that burden the international community. West Nile virus (WNV), for example, is a zoonotic pathogen with cases regularly reported in North America and Europe. Even after decades of cases, we still lack targeted therapeutics and preventive methods. WNV, while one of the most common mosquito-borne illnesses in the United States, is not the only zoonosis of high importance to human and animal health. To alleviate the international burden of diseases associated with these zoonotic infections and develop therapeutic strategies, we must understand questions related to pathogen–host interactions, vector–pathogen interactions, epidemiology, and human and animal health. Examples of questions that must still be addressed in the field include but are not limited to:

  • Can existing therapeutics for other infections be used to treat or mitigate outcomes of these infections?
  • How does the host immune response influence infection and outcome such as long-term sequelae?
  • What are the current burdens of disease of these zoonotic infections?
  • Have risk factors for severe infection changed, or are there newly identified risk factors?
  • Are vectors more prevalent than in previous studies, or has the vector distribution expanded to new geographic regions?

This Special Issue welcomes submissions of manuscripts of studies and reviews related to zoonotic infections, with a focus on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, vector biology, and immunology of zoonotic infections.

Dr. Shannon Ronca
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • West Nile virus
  • flavivirus
  • alphavirus
  • human disease
  • animal disease
  • zoonotic
  • zoonoses
  • epidemiology
  • virus–host interactions
  • immune responses
  • vector–pathogen interactions

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review, Other

13 pages, 1878 KiB  
Article
Evidence of West Nile Virus Circulation in Horses and Dogs in Libya
by Kholoud Khalid Ben-Mostafa, Giovanni Savini, Annapia Di Gennaro, Liana Teodori, Alessandra Leone, Federica Monaco, Mohammed Masoud A. Alaoqib, Abdunnabi A. Rayes, Abdunaser Dayhum and Ibrahim Eldaghayes
Pathogens 2024, 13(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13010041 - 31 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2241
Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) is a globally significant mosquito-borne Flavivirus that causes West Nile disease (WND). In Libya, evidence of WNV circulation has been reported in humans but never in animals. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of WNV [...] Read more.
West Nile virus (WNV) is a globally significant mosquito-borne Flavivirus that causes West Nile disease (WND). In Libya, evidence of WNV circulation has been reported in humans but never in animals. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of WNV infection in horses and dogs in Libya. In total, 574 and 63 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy, unvaccinated horses and dogs, respectively, between 2016 and 2019. A commercially available competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) kit was initially used to test the collected samples for the presence of WNV Ig-G antibodies. Positive and doubtful sera were also tested using a more specific virus neutralisation assay to confirm whether the ELISA-positive results were due to WNV or other Flavivirus antibodies. The seroprevalence of WNV IgG antibodies according to ELISA was 13.2% out of 574 of total horses’ samples and 30.2% out of 63 of total dogs’ samples. The virus neutralisation test (VNT) confirmed that 10.8% (62/574) and 27% (17/63) were positive for WNV-neutralising titres ranging from 1:10 to 1:640. Univariable analysis using chi-square tests was conducted to measure the statistical significance of the association between the hypothesized risk factors including city, sex, breed, and age group and were then analyzed using the subsequent multivariable logistic regression model for horse samples. Age group was found to be the only significant risk factor in this study. The results of the present study provide new evidence about WNV circulation in Libya. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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10 pages, 1043 KiB  
Article
Can Citizen Science Contribute to Avian Influenza Surveillance?
by Irene Saavedra, Julio Rabadán-González, David Aragonés and Jordi Figuerola
Pathogens 2023, 12(9), 1183; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12091183 - 21 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2920
Abstract
Global change is an important driver of the increase in emerging infectious diseases in recent decades. In parallel, interest in nature has increased, and different citizen science platforms have been developed to record wildlife observations from the general public. Some of these platforms [...] Read more.
Global change is an important driver of the increase in emerging infectious diseases in recent decades. In parallel, interest in nature has increased, and different citizen science platforms have been developed to record wildlife observations from the general public. Some of these platforms also allow registering the observations of dead or sick birds. Here, we test the utility of live, sick and dead observations of birds recorded on the platform Observation.org for the early detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) outbreaks in the wild in Belgium and The Netherlands. There were no significant differences in the morbidity/mortality rate through Observation.org one to four weeks in advance. However, the results show that the HPAIV outbreaks officially reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) overlapped in time with sudden increases in the records of sick and dead birds in the wild. In addition, in two of the five main HPAIV outbreaks recorded between 2016 and 2021, wild Anseriformes mortality increased one to two months before outbreak declaration. Although we cannot exclude that this increase was related to other causes such as other infectious diseases, we propose that Observation.org is a useful nature platform to complement animal health surveillance in wild birds. We propose possible approaches to improve the utility of the platform for pathogen surveillance in wildlife and discuss the potential for HPAIV outbreak detection systems based on citizen science to complement current surveillance programs of health authorities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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20 pages, 4860 KiB  
Article
A Prior Usutu Virus Infection Can Protect Geese from Severe West Nile Disease
by Hannah Reemtsma, Cora M. Holicki, Christine Fast, Felicitas Bergmann, Martin H. Groschup and Ute Ziegler
Pathogens 2023, 12(7), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12070959 - 20 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1635
Abstract
Usutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are closely related pathogens circulating between mosquitoes and birds, but also infecting mammals as dead-end hosts. Both viruses share the same susceptible hosts, vectors, and even distribution areas in Central Europe. The aim of the [...] Read more.
Usutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are closely related pathogens circulating between mosquitoes and birds, but also infecting mammals as dead-end hosts. Both viruses share the same susceptible hosts, vectors, and even distribution areas in Central Europe. The aim of the study was, therefore, to understand their amplification potential and interference upon a successive infection. Two-week old geese were initially infected with an USUV isolate from Germany and with a German WNV isolate17 days later. The geese were susceptible to the USUV and the WNV infections, as evidenced by specific flavivirus antibodies in all of the birds. Furthermore, in half of the USUV-inoculated geese, USUV genomes were detected in the blood and swab samples 2–4 days post-infection. Additionally, most of the examined organs contained USUV genomes and showed signs of encephalitis and ganglioneuritis. Interestingly, upon a sequential infection with WNV, the genome copy numbers in all of the examined samples were significantly lower and less frequent than after a WNV mono-infection. Similarly, the histopathological lesions were less severe. Therefore, it can be concluded that a previous USUV infection can protect birds from clinical disease in a subsequent WNV infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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16 pages, 7372 KiB  
Article
Longitudinal Study of the Occurrence of Usutu Virus and West Nile Virus Infections in Birds in a Zoological Garden in Northern Germany
by Felicitas Bergmann, Martina Schmoock-Wellhausen, Christine Fast, Cora M. Holicki, Friederike Michel, Patrick Wysocki, Balal Sadeghi, Martin H. Groschup and Ute Ziegler
Pathogens 2023, 12(6), 753; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12060753 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1992
Abstract
Usutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are known to cause diseases and mortalities in bird populations. Since 2010/2011, USUV has circulated in Germany and spread nationwide, while WNV was only introduced into East Germany in 2018. The zoological garden investigated is [...] Read more.
Usutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are known to cause diseases and mortalities in bird populations. Since 2010/2011, USUV has circulated in Germany and spread nationwide, while WNV was only introduced into East Germany in 2018. The zoological garden investigated is located in Northern Germany, where USUV infections in wild birds have been detected for several years. In this longitudinal study conducted over a four-year period, zoo birds were sampled biannually and screened for molecular and serological evidence of USUV and WNV. USUV genomes were detected in eight of the sampled birds and whole-genome sequences revealed the circulation of USUV lineages Europe 3 and Africa 3. Of the eight birds infected with USUV during the study period, four died after the infection, while four survived without displaying clinical signs. Furthermore, in a few of the birds, a USUV (re-)infection was confirmed on a serological level with three birds producing USUV-neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) over a period of four years. Nonetheless, in two birds sampled throughout this longitudinal study, neither a USUV nor a WNV infection was evident. In 2022, WNV nAbs were detected for the first time in a juvenile zoo bird, indicating the introduction of the virus into this region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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Review

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12 pages, 335 KiB  
Review
Interactions between West Nile Virus and the Microbiota of Culex pipiens Vectors: A Literature Review
by Marta Garrigós, Mario Garrido, Guillermo Panisse, Jesús Veiga and Josué Martínez-de la Puente
Pathogens 2023, 12(11), 1287; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12111287 - 27 Oct 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2147
Abstract
The flavivirus West Nile virus (WNV) naturally circulates between mosquitoes and birds, potentially affecting humans and horses. Different species of mosquitoes play a role as vectors of WNV, with those of the Culex pipiens complex being particularly crucial for its circulation. Different biotic [...] Read more.
The flavivirus West Nile virus (WNV) naturally circulates between mosquitoes and birds, potentially affecting humans and horses. Different species of mosquitoes play a role as vectors of WNV, with those of the Culex pipiens complex being particularly crucial for its circulation. Different biotic and abiotic factors determine the capacity of mosquitoes for pathogen transmission, with the mosquito gut microbiota being recognized as an important one. Here, we review the published studies on the interactions between the microbiota of the Culex pipiens complex and WNV infections in mosquitoes. Most articles published so far studied the interactions between bacteria of the genus Wolbachia and WNV infections, obtaining variable results regarding the directionality of this relationship. In contrast, only a few studies investigate the role of the whole microbiome or other bacterial taxa in WNV infections. These studies suggest that bacteria of the genera Serratia and Enterobacter may enhance WNV development. Thus, due to the relevance of WNV in human and animal health and the important role of mosquitoes of the Cx. pipiens complex in its transmission, more research is needed to unravel the role of mosquito microbiota and those factors affecting this microbiota on pathogen epidemiology. In this respect, we finally propose future lines of research lines on this topic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)

Other

Jump to: Research, Review

16 pages, 1540 KiB  
Systematic Review
West Nile Virus Infection in Occupational Settings—A Systematic Review
by Amienwanlen E. Odigie, Angela Stufano, Valentina Schino, Aya Attia Koraney Zarea, Linda A. Ndiana, Daniela Mrenoshki, Iniobong C. I. Ugochukwu, Piero Lovreglio, Grazia Greco, Annamaria Pratelli, Michele Camero and Maria Tempesta
Pathogens 2024, 13(2), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13020157 - 9 Feb 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2174
Abstract
Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging mosquito-borne neurotropic virus, belonging to the Flaviviridae family and the Orthoflavivirus genus. The effective control of WNV requires a targeted preventive strategy that also needs the identification of the higher-risk populations. Hence, this study focused [...] Read more.
Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging mosquito-borne neurotropic virus, belonging to the Flaviviridae family and the Orthoflavivirus genus. The effective control of WNV requires a targeted preventive strategy that also needs the identification of the higher-risk populations. Hence, this study focused on a systematic literature review of WNV-acquired infection in work-related settings and the assessment of the exposure risks among different occupational categories. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted to identify studies until September 2023 in multiple databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Web of Science, according to the PRISMA 2020 statement. Risk of bias of collected papers was assessed by the ROB tool of the National Toxicology Program’s Office of Health Assessment and Translation handbook. Results: A total of 21 studies were included in the systematic review, out of which seventeen were observational studies and four were case reports. Workers identified as at higher risk for WNV infection were military workers, veterinarians, agricultural workers, farmers, and laboratory workers with contact with infected fluids or aerosols. Conclusions: The identification of higher-risk workers could facilitate active surveillance by occupational physicians, which could improve our understanding of the epidemiology of WNV and, in addition, could help tailor appropriate preventive recommendations, reducing the overall burden of disease in high-risk areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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23 pages, 7931 KiB  
Systematic Review
Expression of Proteins, Glycoproteins, and Transcripts in the Guts of Fasting, Fed, and Trypanosoma cruzi-Infected Triatomines: A Systematic Review
by Olivia A. Reynoso-Ducoing, Berenice González-Rete, Elsa Díaz, Frida N. Candelas-Otero, J. Antonio López-Aviña, Margarita Cabrera-Bravo, Martha I. Bucio-Torres, Elia Torres-Gutiérrez and Paz María Salazar-Schettino
Pathogens 2023, 12(9), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12091124 - 2 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2357
Abstract
Chagas disease is caused by the hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The main transmission mechanism for the parasite in endemic areas is contact with the feces of an infected triatomine bug. Part of the life cycle of T. cruzi occurs in the digestive tract [...] Read more.
Chagas disease is caused by the hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The main transmission mechanism for the parasite in endemic areas is contact with the feces of an infected triatomine bug. Part of the life cycle of T. cruzi occurs in the digestive tract of triatomines, where vector and parasite engage in a close interaction at a proteomic–molecular level. This interaction triggers replication and differentiation processes in the parasite that can affect its infectivity for the vertebrate host. With the aim of compiling and analyzing information from indexed publications on transcripts, proteins, and glycoproteins in the guts of fasting, fed, and T. cruzi-infected triatomines in the period 2000–2022, a systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Fifty-five original research articles retrieved from PubMed and ScienceDirect were selected; forty-four papers reported 1–26,946 transcripts, and twenty-one studies described 1–2603 peptides/proteins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue West Nile Virus and Other Zoonotic Infections)
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