Emerging Infectious Diseases (Feb 2024)

Fatal West Nile Virus Infection in Horse Returning to United Kingdom from Spain, 2022

  • Mirjam Schilling,
  • Bettina Dunkel,
  • Tobias Floyd,
  • Daniel Hicks,
  • Alex Nunez,
  • Falko Steinbach,
  • Arran J. Folly,
  • Nicholas Johnson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3002.230690
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 30, no. 2
pp. 396 – 398

Abstract

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We report fatal West Nile virus (WNV) infection in a 7-year-old mare returning to the United Kingdom from Spain. Case timeline and clustering of virus sequence with recent WNV isolates suggest that transmission occurred in Andalusía, Spain. Our findings highlight the importance of vaccination for horses traveling to WNV-endemic regions.

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