Epidemiological study on zoonotic diseases endemic in North America which are potentially introduced into Japan

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In this study, new diagnostic methods were developed and the epidemiological surveys were carried out on West Nile fever and hantavirus infections which are potentially introduced into Japan.1) Development of diagnostic methods for West Nile fever: To establish the surveillance system to West Nile virus introduction to Japan, serological diagnostic methods for anti-West Nile virus antibodies were developed. The newly developed methods were the micro-neutralization test and inhibition ELISA.2) Epidemiological study of West Nile fever in wild birds in Far East Russia: Total RNA was extracted from kidneys of 98 birds captured in Far East Russia and West Nile virus RNA was tried to detect by RT-PCR. Although no West Nile virus RNA was detected, neutralizing antibodies to West Nile virus were detected in 15 bird sera out of 91 samples. Therefore, it is suggested that West Nile virus is circulating among wild birds in Far East Russia. Since a lot of wild birds migrate from Far East Russia to Japan, reinforcement of control measures to West Nile fever is highly required.3) Epidemiological study of hantavirus infections among rodents in Mexico: Virus genome detection method for hantaviruses existing in North America was developed by RT-PCR. Total RNA was extracted from lungs of 213 rodents captured in Mexico and hantavirus genome was tried to detect by RT-PCR. Among 213 samples, hantavirus RNAs were detected from 21 samples. Among these 21 virus-RNA positive rodents, 19 animals had anti-hantavirus antibodies. Therefore, it was revealed that hantaviruses are circulating among rodents in Mexico where the information of hantavirus infection is extremely limited.