Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009;154(5):783-9.
doi: 10.1007/s00705-009-0369-x. Epub 2009 Apr 4.

Persistent West Nile virus infection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Nicole Nemeth  1 , Ginger Young, Christina Ndaluka, Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Nicholas Komar, Richard Bowen
Affiliations

Persistent West Nile virus infection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Nicole Nemeth et al. Arch Virol. 2009.

Abstract

Long-term persistence of West Nile virus (WNV) infection within vertebrate reservoir hosts is a potential mechanism for overwintering of this (and other) arbovirus(es) at temperate latitudes. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus), an established amplifying host for WNV and other arboviruses, was used as a model to confirm chronicity of WNV infection in passerine birds and to evaluate the feasibility of two overwintering mechanisms: blood-borne infection of arthropod vectors (recrudescence) and oral infection of vertebrate reservoir hosts (ingestion of infected tissues through predation). WNV-inoculated sparrows were monitored for persistent infection for up to 2 years. Infectious virus persisted in tissues through 43 days, but not in sera beyond 6 days. Viral RNA persisted in tissues through 65 days. Chronicity of WNV infection in some tissues, but not blood, supports the predation mechanism of WNV overwintering, but not recrudescence. RNA persistence impacts interpretation and etiologic determination of avian mortality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

-