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Detection of Infectious Virus from Field-collected Mosquitoes by Vero Cell Culture Assay
Published on: June 9, 2011
Retrospective West Nile Virus Lineage 3 Surveillance in Culex Mosquitoes: Nebraska, USA 2012-2024
Shawn Freed1,2, Sarah Chandler3, Emily Davis4
1Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska.
Abstract:
West Nile virus lineage 1 (WNVL1) has been the only lineage known to circulate within the United States; however, multiple other lineages have been identified around the world. West Nile virus lineage 3 (WNVL3) was previously only isolated from mosquitoes in Czechia, but no human cases had been observed. West Nile virus lineage 3 was identified alongside WNVL1 in 2023 in a severely ill Nebraska patient with no history of international travel. To determine the extent of WNVL3 transmission, 1,199 historical mosquito pools collected from the state of Nebraska from 2012 through 2024 totaling >40,000 Culex spp. mosquitoes were tested. All pools tested negative for WNVL3 RNA. This study suggests that WNVL3 may circulate at very low levels or in alternative vector species in Nebraska.
