Novel Flavivirus or New Lineage of West Nile Virus, Central Europe

• Main Authors: Tamás Bakonyi, Zdenek Hubálek, Ivo Rudolf, Norbert Nowotny
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2005-02-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Rabensburg virus; West Nile virus; Flaviviridae; complete genome analysis; phylogenetic analysis; research
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/2/04-1028_article

A flavivirus (strain 97-103) was isolated from Culex pipens mosquitoes in 1997 following floods in South Moravia, Czech Republic. The strain exhibited close antigenic relationship to West Nile virus (WNV) prototype strain Eg-101 in a cross-neutralization test. In this study, mouse pathogenicity characteristics and the complete nucleotide and putative amino acid sequences of isolate 97-103, named Rabensburg virus (RabV) after a nearby Austrian city, were determined. RabV shares only 75%–77% nucleotide identity and 89%–90% amino acid identity with representative strains of WNV lineages 1 and 2. Another RabV strain (99-222) was isolated in the same location 2 years later; it showed >99% nucleotide identity to strain 97-103. Phylogenetic analyses of RabV, WNV strains, and other members of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) complex clearly demonstrated that RabV is either a new (third) lineage of WNV or a novel flavivirus of the JEV group.