Antibodies to West Nile virus in equines of Antioquia and Meta, Colombia, 2005-2008

ABSTRACT: West Nile Virus (WNV) is an arthropod-borne agent classified in the Flavivirus genus. Infection has been demonstrated in many vertebrate species including birds, mammals and reptiles. WNV can affect the nervous system of humans, horses and birds causing mild to severe illness and sometimes death. In 1999 WNV was introduced into the Americas causing a small outbreak in New York City. In the following years, the virus spread across North America and later into Central America, the Caribbean and parts of South America. Serological evidence of WNV in Colombia was first documented in 2005 in equines from the Atlantic coast; however clinical cases in humans or animals have not been reported. We extended these studies searching for WNV antibodies in sera of equines of two other provinces in Colombia: Antioquia and El Meta. IgG and IgM antibodies were first determined and reactive sera were processed by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) to confirm the specificity of results. Four horses from Antioquia but none from El Meta tested positive for WNV antibodies. These results suggest that WNV has spread across the Atlantic coast and is now invading the Andean region in Colombia.

• Autores: Góez Rivillas, Yenny Patricia; Taborda Vanegas, Natalia Andrea; Díaz Castrillón, Francisco Javier; Rodas González, Juan David; Ruiz Sáenz, Julián
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2010
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/8431
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10495/8431
• Palabra clave: Virus del Nilo Occidental; Equinos - Enfermedades; Anticuerpos; Prueba de neutralización por reducción en placas (PRNT)
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Colombia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 CO)