TY - JOUR
T1 - West Nile virus infection of birds, Mexico
AU - Guerrero-Sánchez, Sergio
AU - Cuevas-Romero, Sandra
AU - Nemeth, Nicole M.
AU - Trujillo-Olivera, María Teresa Jesús
AU - Worwa, Gabriella
AU - Dupuis, Alan
AU - Brault, Aaron C.
AU - Kramer, Laura D.
AU - Komar, Nicholas
AU - Estrada-Franco, José Guillermo
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - West Nile virus (WNV) has caused disease in humans, equids, and birds at lower frequency in Mexico than in the United States. We hypothesized that the seemingly reduced virulence in Mexico was caused by attenuation of the Tabasco strain from southeastern Mexico, resulting in lower viremia than that caused by the Tecate strain from the more northern location of Baja California. During 2006-2008, we tested this hypothesis in candidate avian amplifying hosts: domestic chickens, rock pigeons, house sparrows, greattailed grackles, and clay-colored thrushes. Only great-tailed grackles and house sparrows were competent amplifying hosts for both strains, and deaths occurred in each species. Tecate strain viremia levels were higher for thrushes. Both strains produced low-level viremia in pigeons and chickens. Our results suggest that certain avian hosts within Mexico are competent for efficient amplification of both northern and southern WNV strains and that both strains likely contribute to bird deaths.
AB - West Nile virus (WNV) has caused disease in humans, equids, and birds at lower frequency in Mexico than in the United States. We hypothesized that the seemingly reduced virulence in Mexico was caused by attenuation of the Tabasco strain from southeastern Mexico, resulting in lower viremia than that caused by the Tecate strain from the more northern location of Baja California. During 2006-2008, we tested this hypothesis in candidate avian amplifying hosts: domestic chickens, rock pigeons, house sparrows, greattailed grackles, and clay-colored thrushes. Only great-tailed grackles and house sparrows were competent amplifying hosts for both strains, and deaths occurred in each species. Tecate strain viremia levels were higher for thrushes. Both strains produced low-level viremia in pigeons and chickens. Our results suggest that certain avian hosts within Mexico are competent for efficient amplification of both northern and southern WNV strains and that both strains likely contribute to bird deaths.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930479629&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3201/eid1712.110294
DO - 10.3201/eid1712.110294
M3 - Artículo
SN - 1080-6040
VL - 17
SP - 2245
EP - 2252
JO - Emerging Infectious Diseases
JF - Emerging Infectious Diseases
IS - 12
ER -