Open AccessDetection of West Nile virus by real-time PCR in crows in northern provinces of Iran
Author(s) -
Mojtaba Sharti,
Mohammad Javad Amouakbari,
Keyvan Pourjabari,
Mohammad Sadegh Hashemzadeh,
Mahdi Tat,
Abolfazl Omidifar,
Ruhollah Dorostkar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of vector borne diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.581
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 0972-9062
DOI - 10.4103/0972-9062.308797
Subject(s) - virology , taqman , amplicon , biology , outbreak , flaviviridae , virus , culex , population , zoology , veterinary medicine , real time polymerase chain reaction , medicine , hepatitis c virus , polymerase chain reaction , ecology , environmental health , genetics , gene , larva
West Nile virus (WNV) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virion, that belongs to the Flaviviridae family. This virus is preserved in a bird-mosquito cycle that is capable of inducing diseases as a dead-end or endpoint host in humans as well as horses. In 2016, a suspicious case of crow population death was reported by the Department of Environment, Ministry of Health, Iran. Considering the mass migration of birds together with the WNV-related symptoms, including uncoordinated walking, ataxia, inability to fly, lack of awareness, and abnormal body posture, it was necessary to further investigate the possible causes of this incident. The objective of this study was molecular detection of WNV in crows utilizing the real-time PCR method in the northern provinces of Iran.