Serologic Evidence for West Nile Virus Infection in Birds in the New York City Vicinity During an Outbreak in 1999
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Emerging Infectious Diseases West Nile VirusWest Nile (WN) virus, a mosquito-borne flavivirus native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania (1), was first detected in North America in the vicinity of New York City in September 1999 (2,3).The virus was associated with an outbreak that included illness and death in humans (4), horses (5), and birds (6,7).In the Old World, birds serve as the vertebrate reservoir hosts in the transmission cycle of WN virus, while humans and other mammals are incidental hosts (1).The North American counterpart to WN virus is St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus.SLE virus is a genetically closely related flavivirus with a similar transmission cycle; it is distributed throughout the Americas (8).Diagnostic tests for SLE and WN virus infections often cross-react.However, SLE virus had never been detected in New York City, and therefore no arboviral surveillance was in place to recognize a flavivirus epizootic in birds or in mosquitoes.Anecdotal evidence suggested that the WN virus epizootic began in late July 1999, when deaths in crows and other birds were observed in the Queens Borough of New York City and later in other boroughs and surrounding counties.In September 1999, the geographic distribution of WN virus in the New York City area and its natural association with potential mosquito vectors and vertebrate reservoir hosts remained unknown.To generate basic information on the geographic distribution of WN virus and on its vertebrate host associations in the New York City region, a variety of surveys for flavivirus antibodies were conducted in vertebrate populations there.This report describes one such survey, which targeted resident bird populations in the northeastern quadrant of Queens County, where most of the human WN encephalitis cases were clustered, and in the peripheral counties of Kings (borough of Brooklyn), Richmond (borough of Staten Island), Westchester, and Nassau. Methods Site SelectionNortheastern Queens was selected as a central sampling location to coincide with the region of greatest density of human WN encephalitis cases (Figure ).Three scattered peripheral locations (Valley Stream, Nassau County; New Rochelle, Westchester County; and Staten Island, Richmond County) were selected in which to investigate potential Serologic Evidence for West Nile Virus Infection in Birds in the New York City Vicinity During an Outbreak in 1999
Source: Emerging infectious diseases
Authors: Nicholas Komar, Nicholas A. Panella, Joseph E. Burns, Stephen W. Dusza, Tina M. Mascarenhas, Thomas O. Talbot
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2152721048