Seroprevalence study on West Nile Virus infection, Fars Province, Southern Iran

Background: This study was carried out to find out the situation of West Nile Virus infection among inhabitants of Fars Province, Southern Iran. Totally 150 human blood samples were collected during 2018.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the presence of antiviral antibodies in human serum as well as of awareness of health workers and clinicians about symptom of WNV.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in five geographical districts based on high population of immigrant and domestic reservoir birds and prevalence of the antiviral antibodies in horses which was reported previously. The serum samples were collected from patients referred to the clinics. The inclusive criteria were risk of encounter to WNV reservoir, such as birds and vectors. The ELISA method was used to detect IgG and IgM antibody against WNV. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the effect of gender, age, keeping birds and urban/rural residence on the risk of developing infection. The awareness of health workers and physicians about symptom of WNV were surveyed.Results: From all blood donors, 41 samples (27.33%) showed positive to IgG antibody. From which 56.10% of them were males and remaining females. None of the mentioned factors had a significant relationship. The symptoms of WNV infection was not clear for the health service staff and physicians.Conclusion: Although the prevalence of WNV infection was relatively high, clinicians and health care workers did not considered the symptom and death of WNV infection. This consequences could be due to poor basic studies and information about WNV. Therefore, the current study demonstrates important information about situation of WNV in the study area. Further research activities is recommended for control of this arbovirus

Keywords:

West Nile Virus , Fars , Iran