Usutu Virus Epizootic and <i>Plasmodium</i> Coinfection in Eurasian Blackbirds (<i>Turdus merula</i>) in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

At the end of the summer of 2016, unusually high levels of mortality were detected in Passeriformes and Strigiformes in Flanders, Belgium, mainly in Eurasian Blackbirds ( Turdus merula). A passive surveillance program demonstrated a widespread Usutu virus outbreak and revealed a coinfection with Plasmodium in 99% of the dead passerine birds that were necropsied.