A serological survey for West Nile virus (WNV) infection involved 395 horses from 43 administrative districts of the Czech Republic (163 animals) and 29 districts of Slovakia (232 animals), sampled between 2008 and 2011. Using a plaque-reduction neutralization microtest, antibodies to WNV were not detected in any horse from the Czech Republic, whereas 19 nonvaccinated horses from Slovakia had specific antibodies to WNV (no cross-reactions were observed with tick-borne encephalitis and Usutu flaviviruses in those animals). The seropositivity rate of nonvaccinated horses in Slovakia was 8.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.7-11.9%), and autochthonous local infection with WNV occurred at least in 11, i.e., 4.8% (95% CI 2.0-7.6%) of the animals. All seropositive horses lived in six lowland districts of southern Slovakia; overall, 15.1% (95% CI 8.8-21.4%) of 126 nonvaccinated horses were seropositive in those districts, situated relatively closely to the border with Hungary, i.e., the country where WNV disease cases have been reported in birds, horses and humans since 2003.

Institute of Vertebrate Biology v v i Academy of Sciences 60365 Brno Czech Republic

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History of Arbovirus Research in the Czech Republic

West Nile Virus and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Are Endemic in Equids in Eastern Austria

First Autochthonous West Nile Lineage 2 and Usutu Virus Infections in Humans, July to October 2018, Czech Republic

Mosquito surveillance of West Nile and Usutu viruses in four territorial units of Slovakia and description of a confirmed autochthonous human case of West Nile fever, 2018 to 2019

Co-Circulation of West Nile and Usutu Flaviviruses in Mosquitoes in Slovakia, 2018