First Detection and Molecular Characterization of Usutu Virus in Mosquitoes Collected in Romania.

Usutu virus (USUV) is an emergent arbovirus in Europe causing mortality in bird populations. Similar to West Nile virus (WNV), USUV is maintained in sylvatic cycles between mosquito vectors and bird reservoirs. Spillover events may result in human neurological infection cases.

Distribution of Insecticide Resistance Genetic Markers in the West Nile Virus Vector from South-Eastern Romania.

and mosquitoes are the vectors of West Nile virus in south-eastern Romania, an area of intense circulation and human transmission of this virus. The level of insecticide resistance for the mosquito populations in the region has not been previously assessed. mosquitoes collected between 2018 and 2019 in south-eastern Romania from different habitats were subjected to biotype identification by real-time PCR.

Characterization and Host-Feeding Patterns of s.l. Taxa in a West Nile Virus-Endemic Area in Southeastern Romania.

sensu lato has been documented as West Nile virus (WNV) vector in southeastern Romania. Bucharest, the densely populated capital city of Romania, and the surrounding Ilfov county are WNV hotspots. In this area, the morphologically indistinguishable biotypes of namely and , are usually differentiated by their behavioral and physiological traits.

West Nile virus lineage 2 in Romania, 2015-2016: co-circulation and strain replacement.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is endemic in southeastern Romania and, after the unprecedented urban epidemic in Bucharest in 1996 caused by lineage 1 WNV, cases of West Nile fever have been recorded every year. Furthermore, a new outbreak occurred in 2010, this time produced by a lineage 2 WNV belonging to the Eastern European clade (Volgograd 2007-like strain), which was detected in humans and mosquitoes in the following years.

Results: We report here, for the first time, the emergence, in 2015, of lineage 2 WNV belonging to the monophyletic Central/Southern European group of strains which replaced in 2016, the previously endemized lineage 2 WNV Volgograd 2007-like strain in mosquito populations.

Re-emergence of severe West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease in humans in Romania, 2012 to 2017-implications for travel medicine.

Background: In Romania, after a major outbreak in 1996, West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) was reported only in a limited number of cases annually. During 2016-2017, a significant increase in the number of WNND cases was reported at the national level, associated with high mortality rates.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all cases confirmed with WNND, hospitalized during 2012-2017 in a single tertiary facility from Bucharest was performed in order to determine the annual prevalence and mortality rate and the risk factors associated with a severe outcome.

First Two Imported Cases of Zika Virus Infections in Romania.

We report the first two cases of imported Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in Romanian patients returning from areas with ongoing outbreaks and challenges for laboratory diagnostic; first one with a classical pattern of acute flaviviral infection and the second one with an interesting pattern of a secondary flaviviral (ZIKV) infection in a yellow fever-vaccinated child living abroad in an endemic area.

Transmission Dynamics of the West Nile Virus in Mosquito Vector Populations under the Influence of Weather Factors in the Danube Delta, Romania.

Mosquitoes were collected in the Danube Delta during the active seasons of 2011-2013. For Culex spp. mosquitoes, the abundance was calculated.

Established Population of the Invasive Mosquito Species Aedes albopictus in Romania, 2012-14.

During an entomological investigation carried out in Bucharest and surroundings in fall of 2012, 45 adult mosquitoes (38 females and 7 males) of Aedes albopictus were collected in a neighborhood from the southern area of the city. The morphological identification of the species was further confirmed by sequencing 2 mitochondrial DNA markers: the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 genes. Aedes albopictus was collected again in 2013 in the same area from July until October.

Molecular epidemiology of dengue fever cases imported into Romania between 2008 and 2013.

Background: Dengue fever is the commonest arthropod-borne infection worldwide. In recent years, rapid growth in global air travel has resulted in a considerable increase in the incidence of imported cases. In Romania it is now the second most frequent cause for hospitalization (after malaria) in patients arriving from tropical regions.

Dobrava virus carried by the yellow-necked field mouse Apodemus flavicollis, causing hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Romania.

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) has been confirmed by serological methods during recent years in Romania. In the present study, focus-reduction neutralization tests (FRNT) confirmed Dobrava hantavirus (DOBV) as the causative agent in some HFRS cases, but could not distinguish between DOBV and Saaremaa virus (SAAV) infections in other cases. DOBV was detected by a DOBV-specific TaqMan assay in sera of nine patients out of 22 tested.

First serologic evidence for the circulation of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Romania.

Serum samples from sheep in localities situated in the county of Tulcea, Northern Dobrogea, were tested with an IgG sandwich ELISA using a recombinant Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) antigen. In all, 131 sera out of 471 tested (27.8%) had IgG antibodies specific to CCHFV.