Origin of the West Nile Virus Responsible for an Outbreak of Encephalitis in the Northeastern United States

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 286; no. 5448; pp. 2333 - 2337
• Main Authors: Lanciotti, R. S., Roehrig, J. T., Deubel, V., Smith, J., Parker, M., Steele, K., Crise, B., Volpe, K. E., Crabtree, M. B., Scherret, J. H., Hall, R. A., MacKenzie, J. S., Cropp, C. B., Panigrahy, B., Ostlund, E., Schmitt, B., Malkinson, M., Banet, C., Weissman, J., Komar, N., Savage, H. M., Stone, W., McNamara, T., Gubler, D. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 17.12.1999; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Algorithms; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies, Monoclonal - immunology; Antibodies, Viral; Antibodies, Viral - immunology; Arboviral encephalitis; Arboviroses; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Bird Diseases; Bird Diseases - epidemiology; Bird Diseases - virology; Birds; Birds - virology; Brain; chemistry; classification; Coding; Corvus; Crows; Disease Outbreaks; disease transmission; Encephalitis; Encephalitis Viruses, Japanese; Encephalitis Viruses, Japanese - classification; Encephalitis Viruses, Japanese - genetics; Encephalitis, Viral; Epidemiology; Etiology; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; genetics; Genome, Viral; Genomes; Genomics; Geographic Distribution; glycoprotein E; Human viral diseases; Humans; immunology; Infectious diseases; isolation & purification; Maximum Likelihood Statistics; Medical research; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mortality; Mosquitoes; New England; New England - epidemiology; New York (N.Y.); New York City - epidemiology; Northeastern United States; Nucleotides; Outbreaks; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Sequencing; Songbirds; Songbirds - virology; Topology; Tropical viral diseases; USA, Northeast; Vector-borne diseases; veterinary; Viral diseases; Viral encephalitis; Viral Envelope Proteins; Viral Envelope Proteins - chemistry; Viral Envelope Proteins - genetics; Viral Envelope Proteins - immunology; Virology; Viruses; West Nile Fever; West Nile Fever - epidemiology; West Nile Fever - veterinary; West Nile Fever - virology; West Nile virus; West Nile virus - classification; West Nile virus - genetics; West Nile virus - immunology; West Nile virus - isolation & purification; Zoo animals; United States; North America; America; New York City; New England; New York; Northeastern United States; New York (N.Y.); Human; Phylogenetic tree; Polyprotein; Flavivirus; Infection; Virus; Characterization; West Nile encephalitis; Viral disease; West Nile virus; Arbovirus disease; Molecular epidemiology; Isolate; Japanese encephalitis group virus; Flaviviridae; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5448.2333

In late summer 1999, an outbreak of human encephalitis occurred in the northeastern United States that was concurrent with extensive mortality in crows (Corvus species) as well as the deaths of several exotic birds at a zoological park in the same area. Complete genome sequencing of a flavivirus isolated from the brain of a dead Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis), together with partial sequence analysis of envelope glycoprotein (E-glycoprotein) genes amplified from several other species including mosquitoes and two fatal human cases, revealed that West Nile (WN) virus circulated in natural transmission cycles and was responsible for the human disease. Antigenic mapping with E-glycoprotein-specific monoclonal antibodies and E-glycoprotein phylogenetic analysis confirmed these viruses as WN. This North American WN virus was most closely related to a WN virus isolated from a dead goose in Israel in 1998.