Isolation of Two Strains of West Nile Virus during an Outbreak in Southern Russia, 1999

• DOI: 10.3201/eid0604.000408
• Publication Date: 2009-09-01T18:36:35Z
• Authors: D.K. Lvov; A.M. Butenko; V.L. Gromashevsky; V.Ph. Larichev; S.Ya. Gaidamovich; O.I. Vyshemirsky; A.N. Zhukov; V.V. Lazorenko; V.N. Salko; A.I. Kovtunov; Kh.M. Galimzyanov; A.E. Platonov; T.N. Morozova; N.V. Khutoretskaya; E.O. Shishkina; T.M. Skvortsova
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Adolescent; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Disease Outbreaks; Russia; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Neutralization Tests; Arbovirus infection; memingoencephalitis; Animals; Humans; west nile virus; Viremia; Aged; R; Brain; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; DNA, Viral; Medicine; West Nile virus; West Nile Fever

From July to September 1999, a widespread outbreak of meningoencephalitis associated with West Nile virus (Flavivirus, Flaviviridae) occurred in southern Russia, with hundreds of cases and dozens of deaths. Two strains of West Nile virus isolated from patient serum and brain-tissue samples reacted in hemagglutination-inhibition and neutralization tests with patients' convalescent-phase sera and immune ascites fluid from other strains of West Nile virus.