West Nile virus outbreak in captive and wild raptors, Czech Republic, 2018

• Published in: Zoonoses and Public Health
• Main Authors: Hubálek, Zdenek, Tomešek, Martin, Kosina, Marcel, Šikutová, Silvie, Straková, Petra, Rudolf, Ivo
• Other Authors: Agentura Pro Zdravotnický Výzkum České Republiky, Grantová Agentura České Republiky
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019
• Subjects: Accipiter gentilis; Aquila chrysaetos; golden eagle
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zph.12638; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fzph.12638; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/zph.12638; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/zph.12638

Abstract West Nile virus lineage 2 (WNV‐2) was detected in the brain of 17 goshawks ( Accipiter gentilis ) that succumbed to neuroinvasive disease in the Czech Republic during 2018: twelve birds were captive and five wild. Furthermore, two wild sparrowhawks ( Accipiter nisus ) and three other captive birds of prey (golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos , hybrid saker falcon Falco cherrug × F. rusticolus and Harris's hawk Parabuteo unicinctus ) also died due to WNV encephalitis. The 2018 outbreak in Czech raptors clearly reflects a new epidemiological situation and indicates an increasing risk of both raptor and human infection with WNV‐2 in the country.