Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anna C. Fagre, Shelby Lyons, Erin Staples, Nicole Lindsey
Summary: This report summarizes the 2021 surveillance data of nationally notifiable arboviruses reported to CDC by U.S. jurisdictions. It includes 3,035 cases of domestic arboviral diseases reported by 49 states and the District of Columbia, with West Nile virus being the most common. The importance of monitoring their transmission and epidemiology cannot be overstated as these viruses continue to cause serious illnesses.
MMWR-MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emily McDonald, Sarabeth Mathis, Stacey W. Martin, J. Erin Staples, Marc Fischer, Nicole P. Lindsey
Summary: West Nile virus (WNV) is an arthropodborne virus and the leading cause of domestically acquired arboviral disease in the United States. Despite stability in national incidence of neuroinvasive disease, peak activity varies regionally. Surveillance and prevention are crucial public health actions to reduce morbidity and mortality.
MMWR SURVEILLANCE SUMMARIES
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Bing-ke Bai, Qi-yu Jiang, Jun Hou
Summary: The COVID-19 epidemic has had an impact on other infectious diseases in China, with a higher decline rate observed for respiratory infectious diseases compared to diseases transmitted through the digestive tract and animal-borne diseases. The measures implemented by the Chinese government to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 have proven effective not only in preventing the spread of respiratory infectious diseases, but also to some extent in preventing the spread of notifiable infectious diseases through other routes.
MICROBES AND INFECTION
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Doris Klingelhoefer, Markus Braun, Isabelle M. Kramer, Friederike Reuss, Ruth Mueller, David A. Groneberg, Dorthe Brueggmann
Summary: The West-Nile virus is spreading to colder regions due to climate change, causing an increase in human mortality and morbidity. This study examines the publication patterns of WNV research and finds that national interests and regional outbreaks significantly influence research intensity. The results also highlight the need for globally focused approaches to better understand and assess the distribution and characteristics of WNV.
EMERGING MICROBES & INFECTIONS
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Laia Casades-Marti, Raul Cuadrado-Matias, Alfonso Peralbo-Moreno, Sara Baz-Flores, Yolanda Fierro, Francisco Ruiz-Fons
Summary: Through a 15-year study in five environmentally diverse areas of Spain, it was found that the transmission risk of West Nile virus (WNV) is closely related to environmental and host factors. Wild ungulates can serve as sentinel species for predicting the transmission risk of WNV.
Reprint
Surgery
Emily McDonald, Sarabeth Mathis, Stacey W. Martin, J. Erin Staples, Marc Fischer, Nicole P. Lindsey
Summary: West Nile virus (WNV) is a leading cause of domestically acquired arboviral disease in the United States. The disease is most commonly asymptomatic, but less than 1% of infected individuals develop severe neuroinvasive disease. Surveillance data from 2009-2018 show peaks in activity in different regions and suggest that predicting future incidence remains challenging. Public health actions focus on surveillance, prevention messaging for at-risk populations, and mosquito control measures to reduce disease morbidity and mortality.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Meredith E. Kernbach, Lynn B. Martin, Thomas R. Unnasch, Richard J. Hall, Rays H. Y. Jiang, Clinton D. Francis
Summary: The study suggests that anthropogenic changes, such as artificial night light, may have a greater impact on infectious diseases than previously thought, especially in the spread of emerging diseases. Modeling results show a nonlinear relationship between ALAN and WNV exposure risk in chickens, with peak risk occurring at low ALAN levels. Further research on the effects of ALAN on other vector-borne parasites is warranted.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
J. Erin Staples, Katherine B. Gibney, Amanda J. Panella, Harry E. Prince, Alison J. Basile, Janeen Laven, James J. Sejvar, Marc Fischer
Summary: West Nile virus (WNV) IgM antibodies can remain detectable for several months to years following infection. The proportion of samples testing positive for WNV IgM decreases over time, but some individuals remain positive or equivocal for IgM antibodies even years after their acute illness. The WNV microsphere immunoassay (MIA) method consistently shows higher rates of positivity compared to the ELISA, but also has a high proportion of nonspecific results at each time point.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2022)
Review
Infectious Diseases
Chinmay Jani, Loukas Kakoullis, Nour Abdallah, Christian Mouchati, Stephanie Page, Robert Colgrove, Lin H. Chen
Summary: This review examines the epidemiology and ecology of West Nile virus (WNV), with a focus on travel-associated infection. Recent findings suggest that WNV is widespread and its geographic distribution will likely continue to increase. Travelers are at risk for WNV infection and its complications, emphasizing the importance of preventive measures.
CURRENT INFECTIOUS DISEASE REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sergio Magallanes, Francisco Llorente, Maria Jose Ruiz-Lopez, Josue Martinez-de la Puente, Ramon Soriguer, Juan Calderon, Miguel Angel Jimenez-Clavero, Pilar Aguilera-Sepulveda, Jordi Figuerola
Summary: West Nile virus (WNV) is a re-emerging zoonotic pathogen that has shown increasing incidence in Europe, with a recent outbreak in Spain in 2020. The factors explaining these changes in WNV incidence are not fully understood. Longitudinal monitoring of WNV in wild animals can help understand its ecology and the risk of transmission to humans, but such studies are limited.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sean P. Beeman, Andrea M. Morrison, Thomas R. Unnasch, Robert S. Unnasch
Summary: Ecological Niche Modeling was used to predict the habitat of the West Nile virus in Florida, with an ensemble model created by averaging three separate machine learning models. Variable importance varied among the models, and validation results showed predictive values ranging from good to excellent for the individual models, with the ensemble model falling in the excellent range.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Katy A. Martin, Juli Henderson, Matthew T. Brewer
Summary: Tritrichomonas foetus is a sexually-transmitted protozoan parasite that causes early embryonic death in cattle. The prevalence and distribution of the disease in the United States is difficult to understand due to it not being a reportable disease at the national level. A survey of state veterinarians revealed infections in 25 states with a total of 3,817 reported cases from 2015 to 2019, showing weak correlation with total cattle numbers in each state. Understanding the relative distribution of the parasite is important for prioritizing surveillance and intervention strategies for Tritrichomonas foetus in the United States.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Economics
Tumader Khouja, Mina Tadrous, Linda Matusiak, Katie Suda
Summary: Opioid use and expenditures in US health systems have been decreasing from 2015 to 2019, following national trends from retail pharmacies. However, fentanyl use increased in clinics, warranting further investigation.
Article
Immunology
Adrian Gervais, Francesca Rovida, Maria Antonietta Avanzini, Stefania Croce, Astrid Marchal, Shih-Ching Lin, Alessandro Ferrari, Christian W. Thorball, Orianne Constant, Tom Le Voyer, Quentin Philippot, Jeremie Rosain, Micol Angelini, Malena Perez Lorenzo, Lucy Bizien, Cristian Achille, Francesca Trespidi, Elisa Burdino, Irene Cassaniti, Daniele Lilleri, Chiara Fornara, Jose Camilla Sammartino, Danilo Cereda, Chiara Marrocu, Antonio Piralla, Chiara Valsecchi, Stefano Ricagno, Paola Cogo, Olaf Neth, Ines Marin-Cruz, Monia Pacenti, Alessandro Sinigaglia, Marta Trevisan, Andrea Volpe, Antonio Marzollo, Francesca Conti, Tiziana Lazzarotto, Andrea Pession, Pierluigi Viale, Jacques Fellay, Stefano Ghirardello, Melodie Aubart, Valeria Ghisetti, Alessandro Aiuti, Emmanuelle Jouanguy, Paul Bastard, Elena Percivalle, Fausto Baldanti, Anne Puel, Margaret R. MacDonald, Charles M. Rice, Giada Rossini, Kristy O. Murray, Yannick Simonin, Anna Nagy, Luisa Barzon, Laurent Abel, Michael S. Diamond, Aurelie Cobat, Shen-Ying Zhang, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Alessandro Borghesi
Summary: Gervais et al. found that auto-antibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) and pre-existing infection are responsible for 40% cases of West Nile virus (WNV) encephalitis. These auto-antibodies can neutralize the protective effect of type I IFNs against WNV in blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples. The prevalence of these auto-antibodies is the highest in patients with encephalitis (around 40%), while the prevalence in individuals with silent WNV infection is as low as that in the general population. These findings highlight the role of auto-antibodies neutralizing IFN-α and/or IFN-ω in the development of WNV encephalitis.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Johnny A. Uelmen, Patrick Irwin, Dan Bartlett, William Brown, Surendra Karki, Marilyn O'Hara Ruiz, Jennifer Fraterrigo, Bo Li, Rebecca L. Smith
Summary: The study found that the impact of different covariates on West Nile virus disease risk varies across spatial extents, and model performance improves as spatial extent increases. Only a small number of covariates were included in the best-fit models at different scales.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2021)
