The first serological detection of West Nile virus infection among residents living in northern Turkey.

Background & Objectives: West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted by a mosquito-borne virus whose natural reservoir is birds. Humans and horses are considered accidental hosts. Even if the vast majority of WNV infections in humans have asymptomatic or mild disease settings, serious neurological disorders with lethal outcomes can also be observed in around 1% of the cases.

First isolation and molecular characterization of canine parvovirus-type 2b (CPV-2b) from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) living in the wild habitat of Turkey.

Background: The canine parvovirus, with its many variants, is responsible for a pivotal and common viral infection affecting millions of dogs and other carnivore species worldwide, particularly the wild ones, which are considered as the main reservoir hosts. To that end, this study investigated the presence of canine parvovirus (CPV) in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) living in wild habitats of several regions of Turkey.

Methods: We randomly collected 630 archival fox stool specimens from rural areas of 22 provinces and used real-time PCR to detect CPV.

A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats.

Current evidence have now demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infects a wide array of mammalian animals; however, the full range of hosts and the viral circulation in companion animals remains to be clarified. In this context, as no such evidenced cases have been reported from Turkey, we aimed to screen for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in housed dogs and cats clinically evaluated for respiratory symptoms and reared in different locations of Samsun province in the black sea region of Turkey from July 2020 to July 2021. Nasal swabs were collected from a total of 415 pets (65 cats and 350 dogs) aged between 1 and 9 years old.

Serological study on the presence of some alpha-herpesviruses in goats of northern Anatolia, Turkey.

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of caprine herpes virus-1 (CpHV-1) and bovine herpes virus-1 (BoHV-1) in 269 goat sera collected from small-scale family farms located in six provinces within the Black Sea region of northern Turkey. The overall seropositivity for alpha-herpesvirus in the native goats was found as 19.33% using BoHV-1 glycoprotein B (gB)-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Sentinel serosurveillance of backyard hens proved West Nile virus circulation in the western provinces of Turkey.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus of a re-emergence importance with a wide range of vertebrate hosts. Granted, it causes asymptomatic infection, but fatal cases and neurologic disorders were also recorded, especially in humans, horses and some exposed birds. The virus is globally spread and birds are considered an amplifying and reservoir host of WNV, helping to spread the disease due to their close contact with main hosts.