Serologic and Genomic Investigation of West Nile Virus in Kosovo
Petra Emmerich,
Xhevat Jakupi,
Kurtesh Sherifi,
Shemsedin Dreshaj,
Ariana Kalaveshi,
Christoph Hemmer,
Donjeta Pllana Hajdari,
Ronald von Possel,
Dániel Cadar,
Alexandru Tomazatos
Affiliations
Petra Emmerich
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Xhevat Jakupi
National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo
Kurtesh Sherifi
Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo
Shemsedin Dreshaj
University Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pristina, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo
Ariana Kalaveshi
National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo
Christoph Hemmer
Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Center of Internal Medicine II, University of Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Donjeta Pllana Hajdari
National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo
Ronald von Possel
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Dániel Cadar
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Alexandru Tomazatos
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
The prevalence of West Nile virus (WNV) is increasing across Europe, with cases emerging in previously unaffected countries. Kosovo is situated in a WNV-endemic region where the seroepidemiological data on WNV in humans remains absent. To address this issue, we have conducted a seroepidemiological investigation of 453 randomly selected sera from a hospital in Kosovo, revealing a 1.55% anti-WNV IgG seroprevalence. Comparative and phylogeographic analyses of the WNV genomes obtained by sequencing archived samples from patients with West Nile fever indicate at least two recent and distinct introductions of WNV lineage 2 into Kosovo from neighboring countries. These findings confirm the eco-epidemiological status of WNV in southeast Europe, where long- and short-range dispersion of lineage 2 strains contributes to a wider circulation via central Europe. Our results suggest an increasing risk for WNV spreading in Kosovo, underscoring the need for an integrated national surveillance program targeting vectors and avian populations for early epidemic detection, as well as the screening of blood donors to gauge the impact of virus circulation on the human population.
