The accumulation and fixation of mutations in West Nile virus (WNV) led to the emergence of a dominant genotype throughout North America. Subsequent analysis of 44 isolates, including 19 new sequences, from Houston, Texas, suggests that WNV has reached relative genetic stasis at the local level in recent years.

We tested for negative effects of West Nile virus (WNV) on a breeding population of eastern bluebirds in Alabama by comparing fecundity and reproductive success in years before and after the arrival of WNV and by comparing fecundity, reproductive success, and overwinter survival of seropositive and seronegative individuals within the same population in the same years. We found that female blueb...

It is without question that “‘[d]etermination of the proper coverage of an insurance contract when the facts are not in dispute is a question of law’”, i.e., a legal determination. Tennant v. Smallwood, 211 W.Va. 703, 568 S.E.2d 10, 13 (2002) (citations omitted). Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for a party seeking coverage in a declaratory judgment action to identify an “expert witness” to tes...

We examined West Nile virus (WNV) seroprevalence in wild mammals along a forest-to-urban gradient in the US mid-Atlantic region. WNV antibody prevalence increased with age, urbanization, and date of capture for juveniles and varied significantly between species. These findings suggest several requirements for using mammals as indicators of transmission.

The prevalence of neutralizing antibody against West Caucasian bat virus (WCBV) in Miniopterus bats collected in Kenya ranged from 17% to 26%. Seropositive bats were detected in 4 of 5 locations sampled across the country. These findings provide evidence that WCBV, originally isolated in Europe, may emerge in other continents.

The past five years have seen the arrival and extremely rapid expansion of West Nile virus (WNV) in the Western Hemisphere. The rapid sweep across North America has permitted little time for developing knowledge of the virus’s potential impacts on wildlife in the New World. Given this information gap, we here summarize for the ornithological community what is known or can be anticipated for WNV...

We studied the impact of forest edges on the fruit-feeding butterfly communities of three forest remnants in Ghana, West Africa. Community diversity was assessed using traps baited with fermenting banana. Two 200-m, edge-to-interior transects of five traps each were established in each forest. Sampling spanned 1 yr for a total of 180-210 trap days per site and resulted in 2,634 specimens and 56...

To determine risk for West Nile virus (WNV) neuroinvasive disease in North Dakota, we tested plasma samples from blood donors for WNV IgG and compared infection rates with reported WNV neuroinvasive disease incidence. We estimate that 1 in 244 WNV infections leads to neuroinvasive disease; risk is substantially increased among men and older persons.

Q: How do people get infected with West Nile Virus (WNV)? A: The most likely way a human would become infected with WNV is through the bite of an infected mosquito. Some people have also become infected with WNV following receipt of contaminated blood or blood products, or transplanted organs from an infected donor. Mothers who are recently infected with WNV may also transmit the virus to their...

Previous studies of North American isolates of West Nile virus (WNV) during 1999-2005 suggested that the virus had reached genetic homeostasis in North America. However, genomic sequencing of WNV isolates from Harris County, Texas, during 2002-2009 suggests that this is not the case. Three new genetic groups have been identified in Texas since 2005. Spread of the southwestern US genotype (SW/WN...