Syndromic surveillance in the Netherlands for the early detection of West Nile virus epidemics.
Abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) is an arthropod-borne flavivirus that is endemic in Africa, Europe, and Eastern Asia. The recent introduction and rapid dissemination of the virus in the United States as well as an increase in WNV outbreaks in Europe, has raised concerns for its spread in Europe. A surveillance system was developed to allow timely detection of an introduction of WNV infections in The Netherlands. This program focuses on cases presenting with neurological disease and includes the monitoring of hospital discharge diagnoses, trends in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diagnostic requests, laboratory testing of CSF, and monitoring of neurological disease in horses. Retrospective data from the hospital discharge records showed yearly peaks of unexplained meningitis and (meningo)encephalitis in the summer. A total of 781 CSF samples from humans and 71 serum and/or CSF samples from horses presenting with neurological disease of suspected viral etiology tested negative for the presence of specific antibodies to WNV. With a coverage rate of 59% in 2003, the probability that a cluster of five WNV cases presenting with neurological symptoms would have been detected was 99%. We conclude that, from 1999 to 2004, no evidence of WNV infection could be found in either humans or horses in The Netherlands.
Publication Date: 2006-06-27 PubMed ID: 16796513DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2006.6.161Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
- Diagnosis
- Disease control
- Disease Diagnosis
- Disease Etiology
- Disease Management
- Disease Outbreaks
- Disease Prevalence
- Disease Surveillance
- Disease Transmission
- Disease Treatment
- Epidemiology
- Equine Health
- Horses
- Infectious Disease
- Mosquito-borne Diseases
- Neurological Diseases
- Public Health
- Vector-borne disease
- Veterinary Medicine
- Virus
- West Nile Virus
Summary
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The research paper discusses a surveillance system developed in the Netherlands to detect early signs of West Nile virus epidemics. The study found no evidence of the virus in humans or horses between 1999 and 2004.
Introduction
- The West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus primarily transmitted to people by mosquitoes. It’s prevalent in Africa, Europe, and Eastern Asia. However, there have been increased concerns regarding its spread in Europe due to recent outbreaks and its rapid dissemination in the United States.
- To monitor and detect the WNV at an early stage, researchers developed a surveillance system in the Netherlands and focused particularly on individuals presenting with neurological disease.
Methodology
- The surveillance system included monitoring of hospital discharge diagnoses, trends in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diagnostic requests, laboratory testing of CSF.
- It also involved observing neurological disease in horses as they, like humans, are susceptible to the WNV.
- Researchers retrospectively analyzed data from hospital discharge records to identify unexplained cases of meningitis and encephalitis that typically peak during the summer.
- Between 1999 to 2004, a total of 781 CSF samples from humans and 71 serum and/or CSF samples from horses, all with suspected viral etiology, were tested for the presence of specific antibodies to WNV.
Results
- All tested samples from both humans and horses turned out negative for the WNV.
- The surveillance system had a coverage rate of 59% in 2003; hence, there was a 99% probability that the system would have detected a cluster of five WNV cases presenting with neurological symptoms.
Conclusion
- Based on the research findings, from 1999 to 2004, no evidence of WNV infection could be found in either humans or horses in The Netherlands. This justifies the efficacy of the implemented surveillance system in early detection and prevention of a potential WNV outbreak.
Cite This Article
APA
Rockx B, van Asten L, van den Wijngaard C, Godeke GJ, Goehring L, Vennema H, van der Avoort H, van Pelt W, Koopmans M.
(2006).
Syndromic surveillance in the Netherlands for the early detection of West Nile virus epidemics.
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis, 6(2), 161-169.
https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2006.6.161 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Diagnostic Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies, Viral / blood
- Cerebrospinal Fluid / virology
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horses
- Hospitals / statistics & numerical data
- Humans
- Netherlands / epidemiology
- Retrospective Studies
- Seasons
- Sentinel Surveillance
- West Nile Fever / epidemiology
- West Nile virus / isolation & purification
Citations
This article has been cited 6 times.- Schwarz ER, Long MT. Comparison of West Nile Virus Disease in Humans and Horses: Exploiting Similarities for Enhancing Syndromic Surveillance. Viruses 2023 May 24;15(6).
- Braks M, Medlock JM, Hubalek Z, Hjertqvist M, Perrin Y, Lancelot R, Duchyene E, Hendrickx G, Stroo A, Heyman P, Sprong H. Vector-borne disease intelligence: strategies to deal with disease burden and threats. Front Public Health 2014;2:280.
- Rodríguez-Prieto V, Vicente-Rubiano M, Sánchez-Matamoros A, Rubio-Guerri C, Melero M, Martínez-López B, Martínez-Avilés M, Hoinville L, Vergne T, Comin A, Schauer B, Dórea F, Pfeiffer DU, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM. Systematic review of surveillance systems and methods for early detection of exotic, new and re-emerging diseases in animal populations. Epidemiol Infect 2015 Jul;143(10):2018-42.
- Koopmans M. Surveillance strategy for early detection of unusual infectious disease events. Curr Opin Virol 2013 Apr;3(2):185-91.
- Hasib L, Dilcher M, Hufert F, Meyer-König U, Weidmann M. Development of a flow-through [corrected] microarray based reverse transcriptase multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay for the detection of European Bunyaviruses. [corrected]. Mol Biotechnol 2011 Oct;49(2):176-86.
- May L, Chretien JP, Pavlin JA. Beyond traditional surveillance: applying syndromic surveillance to developing settings--opportunities and challenges. BMC Public Health 2009 Jul 16;9:242.
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