Lack of usutu virus RNA in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with encephalitis of unknown etiology, Tuscany, Italy

Usutu virus (USUV) is an African mosquito-borne flavivirus associated with human neurological disorders in Europe. Recently, USUV introduction in Europe has been traced back to Eurasian blackbirds deaths in the Tuscany region of Italy in 1996. Ninety-six cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with encephalitis of unknown etiology diagnosed in 2010-2013 were screened to determine whether USUV circulates in humans in Tuscany. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction, no positive patient was found. USUV does not seem to cause neuroinvasive disorders in humans in Tuscany.