SURVEY FOR ANTIBODIES AGAINST ARTHROPOD-BORNE VIRUSES IN MAN AND ANIMALS IN ITALY .I. SEROLOGIC STATUS OF HUMAN BEINGS AND ANIMALS IN A CENTRAL ITALIAN REGION (FONDI)

Sera from 205 apparently healthy residents were tested by hemagglutina-tion-inhibition (HI) against 10 different Arboviruses 2 from group A, 5 from group B, Bunyamwera and Phlebotomus vever (Sicilian and Neapolitan strains). About 29% of the sera reacted with one or more antigens: 1.9% to Tick borne encephalitis (TBE), 8.3% to West Nile (WN), 20.5% to Sicilian Phlebotomus fever and 9.7% to Neapolitan Phlebotomus fever. Sera from 153 domestic and wild animals of various species (cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, pigs, rats, and wild mice), collected in the same sera, were examined by the HI test against the same 10 antigens. Twenty-four percent of bovine sera, 32% of goat sera, and one sheep serum reacted with Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) antigen. Seven percent of bovine sera and 44% of goat sera showed antibody for TBE antigen; WN antibodies were found in bovine, goat, rabbit, rat and wild-mice [Apodemus, Rattus, Mus.] sera. Some of the human and animal HI-positive sera were further tested with the corresponding viruses by mouse-neutralization test. The presence of TBE neutralizing antibodies was confirmed in human and goat sera; WN and WEE neutralizing antibodies were not encountered, indicating perhaps the presence of viruses closely related; neutralizing antibodies to Sicilian Phlebotomus fever were not detected.