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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 78(4), 2008, pp. 666-668
Copyright © 2008 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


First Isolation of West Nile Virus in the Caribbean

Roberto Barrera*, Elizabeth Hunsperger, Jorge L. Muñoz-Jordán, Manuel Amador, Annette Diaz, Joshua Smith, Kovi Bessoff, Manuela Beltran, Edgardo Vergne, Mark Verduin, Amy Lambert, AND Wellington Sun
Dengue Branch, DVBID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1324 Calle Cañada, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00920

 

ABSTRACT

A sentinel chicken program for West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance was initiated in July 2006 in eastern Puerto Rico, yielding the first seroconversions on June 4, 2007. WNV was isolated from sentinel chicken serum and mosquito pools (Culex nigripalpus, Culex bahamensis) for the first time in Tropical America. Preliminary sequence analysis of the prM and E genes revealed a 1-amino acid difference (V159A) between the Puerto Rican 2007 and the NY99. This mutation has been observed in the current dominant clade circulating in the United States. Sentinel chicken surveillance was a useful tool for the detection of West Nile virus in the tropics.

Received October 10, 2007. Accepted for publication January 20, 2008.

Acknowledgments: We appreciate the outstanding field and laboratory work conducted by Yaitza Rosario, Juan Medina Sr., Jesús Flores, Juan Medina Jr., Orlando Gonzalez, Mary Crabtree, and Martin Williams. This work was possible thanks to the support of local residents and institutions where sentinel chickens were located in Ceiba and Naguabo municipalities.

* Address correspondence to Roberto Barrera, Dengue Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1324 Calle Cañada, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00920. E-mail: rbarrera{at}cdc.gov

Authors’ addresses: Roberto Barrera, Elizabeth Hunsperger, Jorge L. Muñoz-Jordán, Manuel Amador, Annette Diaz, Joshua Smith, Kovi Bessoff, Manuela Beltran, Edgardo Vergne, Mark Verduin, Amy Lambert, and Wellington Sun, Dengue Branch, DVBID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1324 Calle Cañada, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00920, Telephone: +1 787-706-2399, Fax: +1 787-706-2496, E-mail: rbarrera{at}cdc.gov.

Reprint requests: Roberto Barrera, Dengue Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1324 Calle Cañada, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00920, Telephone: +1 787-706-2399, Fax: +1 787-706-2496, E-mail: rbarrera{at}cdc.gov.






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Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.