{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T05:17:09Z","timestamp":1784092629526,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]],"date-time":"2025-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763164800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation","award":["451-03-136\/2025-03\/200030"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-136\/2025-03\/200030"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>West Nile fever is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease caused by West Nile virus (WNV), maintained in an enzootic cycle between avian hosts and Culex mosquitoes. While birds are the principal reservoirs, WNV also infects a wide range of mammals, including humans, horses, and wildlife species. In this study, we assessed WNV seroprevalence in wild ungulates, wild boars, golden jackals, and the invasive rodent nutria in Serbia. A total of 522 serum samples from wild animals were tested. Antibodies against WNV were detected across all tested species, with seroprevalence rates of 37% in wild boars, 11.9% in nutrias, 32.4% in golden jackals, 50.6% in red deer, and 9.1% in roe deer. Detection of antibodies in both adults and juveniles provides evidence of recent transmission during the study period. These findings confirm widespread circulation of WNV in Serbian wildlife and suggest that wild ungulates, carnivores, and invasive rodents may serve as useful sentinel species for monitoring WNV prevalence and geographic spread in natural ecosystems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14111167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T10:24:58Z","timestamp":1763375098000},"page":"1167","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Wild Mammals as Sentinels for West Nile Virus Circulation: Evidence from Serbia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1482-3046","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ljubi\u0161a","family":"Veljovi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Milan","family":"Paunovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MM Consulting Agency, Rade Kon\u010dara 7, 11107 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4335-1690","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitrije","family":"Gli\u0161i\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9564-1764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sofija","family":"\u0160olaja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2935-9554","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zorana","family":"Zurovac Sapund\u017ei\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9437-8159","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jelena","family":"Maleti\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8573-0771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bojan","family":"Milovanovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1181-6307","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vesna","family":"Mili\u0107evi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Radojicic, S., Zivulj, A., Petrovic, A., Nisavic, J., Milicevic, V., Sipetic-Grujicic, S., Misic, J., Korzeniowska, M., and Stanojevic, S. 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