Bagaza Virus in Partridges and Pheasants, Spain | CDC EID > Volume 17, Number 8–August 2011

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Volume 17, Number 8–August 2011
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Bagaza Virus in Partridges and Pheasants, Spain, 2010

Montserrat Agüero, Jovita Fernández-Pinero, Dolores Buitrago, Azucena Sánchez, Maia Elizalde, Elena San Miguel, Ruben Villalba, Francisco Llorente, and Miguel Ángel Jiménez-Clavero Comments to Author
Author affiliations: Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria, Algete, Spain (M. Agüero, D. Buitrago, A. Sánchez, E. San Miguel, R. Villalba); and Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal, Valdeolmos, Spain (J. Fernández-Pinero, M. Elizalde, F. Llorente, M.A. Jiménez-Clavero)

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Abstract
In September 2010, an unusually high number of wild birds (partridges and pheasants) died in Cádiz in southwestern Spain. Reverse transcription PCR and virus isolation detected flavivirus infections. Complete nucleotide sequence analysis identified Bagaza virus, a flavivirus with a known distribution that includes sub-Saharan Africa and India, as the causative agent.

An essential feature of certain emerging pathogens is their ability to expand their geographic ranges. Several arboviral diseases, particularly those caused by flaviviruses, have been found in new areas beyond their usual ranges. The best example of this phenomenon was introduction of West Nile virus into the Americas in 1999 (1). Other recent expansions of flaviviruses were the introductions of Japanese encephalitis virus into Australia in 1995–1998 (2) and Usutu virus into Europe in 2001 (3).

We report an outbreak of disease in wild birds (partridges and pheasants) in Spain that was caused by a flavivirus, Bagaza virus (BAGV). This virus was first isolated in Bagaza, Central African Republic, in 1966, from a pool of mixed-species female Culex spp. mosquitoes (4). It has subsequently been found in mosquitoes in other countries in western Africa (5,6) and in India, where serologic evidence suggests that this virus may infect humans (7), although its pathogenicity in humans is uncertain. BAGV has been shown to be synonymous with Israel turkey meningoencephalitis virus, a pathogen affecting poultry (turkeys) and reported only in Israel and South Africa (8).

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Suggested Citation for this Article

Agüero M, Fernández-Pinero J, Buitrago D, Sánchez A, Elizalde M, San Miguel E, et al. Bagaza virus in partridges and pheasants, Spain, 2010. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Aug [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/8/110077.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1708.110077

Comments to the Authors

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Miguel A. Jiménez-Clavero, Centro del Investigación en Sanidad Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria, Ctra. Algete, El Casar s/n, 28130, Valdeolmos, Spain; email: majimenez@inia.es