Japanese encephalitis virus RNA detected in Culex pipiens mosquitoes in Italy

P Ravanini; E Huhtamo; V Ilaria; M G Crobu; A M Nicosia; L Servino; F Rivasi; S Allegrini; U Miglio; A Magri; R Minisini; O Vapalahti; R Boldorini

doi:10.2807/ese.17.28.20221-en

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Japanese encephalitis virus RNA detected in Culex pipiens mosquitoes in Italy
P Ravanini¹ , E Huhtamo² , V Ilaria¹ , M G Crobu¹ , A M Nicosia¹ , L Servino¹ , F Rivasi³ , S Allegrini⁴ , U Miglio⁴ , A Magri⁵ , R Minisini⁵ , O Vapalahti² , R Boldorini⁴
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Affiliations: ¹ Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Maggiore della Carità, Novara, Italy ² Infection Biology Research Programme, Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland ³ Department of Diagnostics, Laboratory Service and Forensic Medicine, Section of Pathological Anatomy, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy ⁴ Department of Pathological Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University Amedeo Avogadro del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy ⁵ Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont ‘Amedeo Avogadro’, Novara, Italy

Correspondence:
P Ravanini
paolo.ravanini gmail.com
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Citation style for this article: Ravanini P, Huhtamo E, Ilaria V, Crobu M G, Nicosia A M, Servino L, Rivasi F, Allegrini S, Miglio U, Magri A, Minisini R, Vapalahti O, Boldorini R. Japanese encephalitis virus RNA detected in Culex pipiens mosquitoes in Italy. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(28):pii=20221. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.17.28.20221-en Received: 04 Jul 2012

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Abstract

Mosquitoes collected in northern Italy were screened for flavivirus RNA. Positive amplicons were sequenced and found most similar to insect flavivirus (ISF), Usutu virus (USUV) and surprisingly also to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The sequence (167 bp), obtained from one pool of Culex pipiens, was found identical to JEV strains from bats in China. Unfortunately additional sequence data or virus isolations were not obtained in this study. Confirmation of potential introduction of JEV to Italy and other European countries is urgently needed.