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Ecological correlates of risk and incidence of West Nile virus in the United States

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Abstract

West Nile virus, which was recently introduced to North America, is a mosquito-borne pathogen that infects a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including humans. Several species of birds appear to be the primary reservoir hosts, whereas other bird species, as well as other vertebrate species, can be infected but are less competent reservoirs. One hypothesis regarding the transmission dynamics of West Nile virus suggests that high bird diversity reduces West Nile virus transmission because mosquito blood-meals are distributed across a wide range of bird species, many of which have low reservoir competence. One mechanism by which this hypothesis can operate is that high-diversity bird communities might have lower community-competence, defined as the sum of the product of each species’ abundance and its reservoir competence index value. Additional hypotheses posit that West Nile virus transmission will be reduced when either: (1) abundance of mosquito vectors is low; or (2) human population density is low. We assessed these hypotheses at two spatial scales: a regional scale near Saint Louis, MO, and a national scale (continental USA). We found that prevalence of West Nile virus infection in mosquito vectors and in humans increased with decreasing bird diversity and with increasing reservoir competence of the bird community. Our results suggest that conservation of avian diversity might help ameliorate the current West Nile virus epidemic in the USA

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Acknowledgments

We thank D. Allan, L. Blaustein, J. Bradford, S. Crawford, C. Frazier, P. Green, F. Keesing, T. Knight, B. McCauley, P. Morin, C. Osenberg, K. Schmidt, J. Scott, G. Storch, D. Tulloch, K. Yates, the Chase lab group, the Rutgers Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis laboratory and two anonymous reviewers for discussions, comments, and logistical support. The cooperation of numerous private land owners and public land managers made this project feasible, as did logistical support from Washington University and the Tyson Research Center. Financial support was provided by Washington University (to J.M.C.), and the Webster Groves Nature Study Society and Saint Louis Audubon Society (to B.F.A.). The authors declare that the studies described herein comply with the laws of the USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1137, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Brian F. Allan, Wade A. Ryberg, Nicholas W. Griffin, Brad J. Oberle & Jonathan M. Chase

  2. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    R. Brian Langerhans

  3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    William J. Landesman

  4. Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, 840 Method Road, Unit One, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA

    Rachael S. Katz

  5. Division of Science and Mathematics, McKendree University, 701 College Road, Lebanon, IL, 62254, USA

    Michele R. Schutzenhofer

  6. Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, 63103, USA

    Kristina N. Smyth

  7. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Annabelle de St. Maurice

  8. United States Department of Agriculture, National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 La Porte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA

    Larry Clark & Robert G. McLean

  9. Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, 115 Wagar, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Kevin R. Crooks

  10. Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, PO Box 195, Pomona, NJ, 08240, USA

    Daniel E. Hernandez

  11. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, 65 Sharon Turnpike, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA

    Richard S. Ostfeld

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  1. Brian F. Allan
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Correspondence to Brian F. Allan.

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Communicated by Craig Osenberg.

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Allan, B.F., Langerhans, R.B., Ryberg, W.A. et al. Ecological correlates of risk and incidence of West Nile virus in the United States. Oecologia 158, 699–708 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1169-9

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