Vector surveillance, host species richness, and demographic factors as neuroinvasive West Nile Disease risk factors

Authors: Humphreys Jr, John; Young, Katherine; Cohnstaedt, Lee; HANEY, KATHRYN - New Mexico State University; Peters, Debra

Submitted to: Viruses and Bacteriophages
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2021
Publication Date: 5/18/2021
Citation: Humphreys Jr, J.M., Young, K.M., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Haney, K., Peters, D.C. 2021. Vector surveillance, host species richness, and demographic factors as neuroinvasive West Nile Disease risk factors. Viruses and Bacteriophages. 13:5. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13050934.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v13050934

Interpretive Summary: This research was conducted as part of the USDA Disease Modeling Grand Challenge Project which aims to assess disease risk to agricultural systems. The research evaluated ecological risk factors associated with West Nile Disease , a disease that effects humans, livestock, and wildlife. The findings highlight that mosquito and bird occurrences are important indicators of disease risk as are human socioeconomic factors.

Technical Abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) is the most common arthropod borne virus (arbovirus) in the United States (US) and is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in the country. The virus has affected tens of thousands of US persons, with thousands of new infections are reported annually. Approximately 1\% of those infected with WNV acquire neuroinvasive West Nile Disease (WND) with severe encephalitis and risk of death. Research describing the ecology of WNV is greatly needed to improve public health surveillance, monitoring, and risk assessment. We applied Bayesian joint-spatiotemporal modeling to assess the association of vector surveillance, host species richness, and a variety of other environmental and socioeconomic disease risk factors with neuroinvasive WND throughout the conterminous US.