Isolation of West Nile Virus from Mosquitoes, Crows, and a Cooper's Hawk in Connecticut

Abstract

West Nile (WN) virus, a mosquito-transmitted virus native to Africa, Asia, and Europe, was isolated from two species of mosquitoes, Culex pipiens and Aedes vexans , and from brain tissues of 28 American crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos , and one Cooper's hawk, Accipiter cooperii , in Connecticut. A portion of the genome of virus isolates from four different hosts was sequenced and analyzed by comparative phylogenetic analysis. Our isolates from Connecticut were similar to one another and most closely related to two WN isolates from Romania (2.8 and 3.6 percent difference). If established in North America, WN virus will likely have severe effects on human health and on the health of populations of birds.