Does the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) represent a threat for human health in Europe? Detection of JEV RNA sequences in birds collected in Italy.

To the editor: Autochthonous cases of Japanese encephalitis (JE) have never been reported in Europe, where there is virtually no circulation of the virus [1]. However, in the issue of Eurosurveillance published on 12 July 2012, Ravanini et al. [2] reported the detection of an RNA sequence of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) NS5 gene in one pool of Culex pipiens mosquitoes collected in north-eastern Italy during the summer of 2010. Unfortunately, the sequence was relatively short (167 bp), and attempts to amplify longer sequences using primers targeted to E, NS5 and NS3 genes and to isolate the virus on cell cultures failed.