Serological and Virological Investigation of West Nile Virus Infection in Resident Breeder Horses at Şanlıurfa Province

Şanlıurfa’da Yerleşik Damızlık Atlarda Batı Nil Virüsü (BNV) Enfeksiyonu’nun Serolojik ve Virolojik Olarak Araştırılması

Abstract

The West Nile Virus (BNV) is a zoonotic disease agent that is a member of the Flaviviridae family and which is transmitted by artopods and can cause encephalitis in humans, horses, birds and various wild animals. The natural vec-tor of the BNV is the Culex and Aedes genus mosquitoes, and there is an important contamination chain between these arthropods and wild birds. In the infection spectrum of BNV, mammalian animals such as horses, humans, dogs, sheep, and domestic poultry such as chickens can be found. In this study, it was aimed to investigate West Nile virus infection in serological (ELISA and PRNT) and virological (Real Time RT-PCR) in breeding horses in located in Şanlıurfa. For this purpose, blood serum samples taken from 277 breeding horses in 10 different centers in Şanlıurfa province were used. Samples were first subjected to BNV Ab ELISA and evaluated for antibody presence. 42 (15.16%) of the samples were seropositive, 16 (5.77%) were suspected and 219 (79.06%) were seronegative. Existing seropositive and suspi-cious samples were subjected to PRNT. Eleven (26.19%) of the 42 seropositive samples were identified to carry specific West Nile virus antibodies. None of the suspicious specimens had PRNT seropositivy. Eleven (3.97%) of 277 breeding horses were identified with specific West Nile virus antibodies. No viral RNA could be detected by Real Time Revers Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rtRT-PCR) in 42 samples seropositive by BNV Ab ELISA test.

Özet

Batı Nil Virüsü (BNV) Flaviviridae ailesine mensup olup artopodlarla bulaşan, insanlar, atlar, kuşlar ve çeşitli vahşi hayvanlarda ensefalit vakası ile seyredebilen ve salgınlara sebep olabilen bir zoonoz hastalık etkenidir. BNV’nin doğal vektörü Culex ve Aedes cinsi sivrisinekler olup, bu artropodlar ile yabani kuşlar arasında önemli bir bulaşma zinciri mevcuttur. BNV’nin enfeksiyon spektrumunda at, insan, köpek, koyun gibi memeli hayvanlar ile tavuk gibi evcil kanatlı hayvanlar da bulunabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Şanlıurfa’da yerleşik damızlık atlarda Batı Nil virüsü enfeksi-yonunun serolojik (ELISA ve PRNT) ve virolojik (Real Time RT-PCR) olarak araştırılması hedeflenmiştir. Bu amaçla Şanlıurfa ilinde 10 farklı merkezde bulunan toplam 277 damızlık attan alınan kan serumu örnekleri kullanıldı. Örnekler