Wild snakes harbor West Nile virus

C R Dahlin; D F Hughes; W E Meshaka Jr; C Coleman; J D Henning

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2016.09.003

Wild snakes harbor West Nile virus

One Health. 2016 Sep 22:2:136-138. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2016.09.003. eCollection 2016 Dec.

Authors

C R Dahlin¹, D F Hughes², W E Meshaka Jr³, C Coleman¹, J D Henning¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown, PA 15904, United States.
² Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.
³ Section of Zoology and Botany, State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120, United States.

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) has a complex eco-epidemiology with birds acting as reservoirs and hosts for the virus. Less well understood is the role of reptiles, especially in wild populations. The goal of our study was to determine whether a wild population of snakes in Pennsylvania harbored WNV. Six species of snakes were orally sampled in the summer of 2013 and were tested for the presence of WNV viral RNA using RT-PCR. Two Eastern Garter Snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis tested positive for viral RNA (2/123, 1.62%). These results indicate a possible role for snakes in the complex transmission cycle of WNV.

Keywords: Flavirus; RNA; Reptile; Snake; Virus; West Nile virus.