Evidence of West Nile virus circulation among humans in central northern Algeria

West Nile Virus (WNV) is the most widely distributed flavivirus worldwide. It is a mosquito-borne virus, and birds constitute its natural reservoir. Humans and equines are considered accidental hosts. Human WNV infections are usually asymptomatic or express as a mild febrile syndrome; however, in around 1% of cases they are responsible for more serious neurological diseases with a potentially lethal outcome. In the Mediterranean basin the virus circulation is regarded as endemic. Outbreaks of WNV meningoencephalitis are regularly notified, especially during summer and autumn seasons. In Algeria, although some surveys have reported WNV activity in the Sahara, to date few data are available about virus circulation in the northern part of the country. We conducted this study to detect possible WNV activity in this part of Algeria. For this purpose, in 2010 a total of 164 human sera were collected from native patients of the Algiers district and surrounding areas, then tested retrospectively for IgG anti-WNV by ELISA. Plaque reduction neutralization technique (PRNT) was used for result confirmation. In this cohort, 9.8% of the 164 collected sera returned positive for anti-WNV IgG; after confirmation by PRNT; 6.7% had specific neutralizing antibodies. No statistically significant difference was observed according to the sex or transfusion status of the patients. In conclusion, these data show for the first time serological evidence of WNV circulation in Algiers and its surrounding areas. They also highlight the need for implementing an integrated surveillance programme covering all aspects of WNV disease in order to better understand the circulation dynamics of WNV in this region. Other flaviviruses antigenically related to WNV should be investigated, given the evidence of serological cross-reaction, as specific IgG antibodies decrease after PRNT confirmation.