West Nile virus surveillance in Connecticut in 2000: an intense epizootic without high risk for severe human disease.
Abstract: In 1999, Connecticut was one of three states in which West Nile (WN) virus actively circulated prior to its recognition. In 2000, prospective surveillance was established, including monitoring bird deaths, testing dead crows, trapping and testing mosquitoes, testing horses and hospitalized humans with neurologic illness, and conducting a human seroprevalence survey. WN virus was first detected in a dead crow found on July 5 in Fairfield County. Ultimately, 1,095 dead crows, 14 mosquito pools, 7 horses, and one mildly symptomatic person were documented with WN virus infection. None of 86 hospitalized persons with neurologic illness (meningitis, encephalitis, Guillain-Barré-like syndrome) and no person in the seroprevalence survey were infected. Spraying in response to positive surveillance findings was minimal. An intense epizootic of WN virus can occur without having an outbreak of severe human disease in the absence of emergency adult mosquito management.
Publication Date: 2001-10-05 PubMed ID: 11585525PubMed Central: PMC2631747DOI: 10.3201/eid0704.010406Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- U.S. Gov't
- P.H.S.
- Animal Health
- Animal Science
- Disease control
- Disease Management
- Disease Outbreaks
- Disease Prevalence
- Disease Surveillance
- Disease Treatment
- Epidemiology
- Epizootic
- Equine Health
- Horses
- Infectious Disease
- Mosquito-borne Diseases
- Public Health
- Serological Surveys
- Seroprevalence
- Vector-borne disease
- Veterinary Science
- West Nile Virus
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
The research indicates that during a heightened period of West Nile virus activity in Connecticut in 2000, no severe human illnesses were observed, despite extensive spread among birds, mosquitoes, and horses.
Overview of the Research
In 2000, Connecticut put prospective surveillance measures in place to track the spread and impact of the West Nile (WN) virus. This included:
- Monitoring bird deaths
- Testing dead crows
- Trapping and testing mosquitoes
- Testing horses and hospitalized humans with neurologic illness
- Conducting a human seroprevalence survey
The WN virus was first detected in a dead crow found on July 5 in Fairfield County. By the end of the study, it was found that 1,095 dead crows, 14 mosquito pools, 7 horses, and one mildly symptomatic person were infected with the West Nile virus.
Human Impact
Despite the significant prevalence of the virus in the animal population, the human population showed minimal impact.
- None of the 86 hospitalized individuals with neurologic illnesses, such as meningitis, encephalitis and Guillain-Barré-like syndrome were infected
- None of the participants in the seroprevalence survey showed signs of infection
Interventions and Findings
Spraying in response to the positive surveillance findings was minimal, suggesting no emergency adult mosquito management was carried out. The main finding from this research is that high levels of WN virus can circulate in several species, in this case, an intense epizootic (an epidemic occurring among animals) can occur, without triggering an outbreak of severe human disease. This suggests that humans might not always be severely affected when there is a high level of West Nile virus in their local environment.
Cite This Article
APA
Hadler J, Nelson R, McCarthy T, Andreadis T, Lis MJ, French R, Beckwith W, Mayo D, Archambault G, Cartter M.
(2001).
West Nile virus surveillance in Connecticut in 2000: an intense epizootic without high risk for severe human disease.
Emerg Infect Dis, 7(4), 636-642.
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0704.010406 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Infectious Diseases Division, Connecticut Department of Public Health, 410 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06134, USA. james.hadler@po.state.ct.us
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Bird Diseases / epidemiology
- Bird Diseases / mortality
- Bird Diseases / virology
- Birds / virology
- Connecticut / epidemiology
- Culex / virology
- Culicidae / virology
- Disease Reservoirs / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horse Diseases / mortality
- Horse Diseases / virology
- Horses / virology
- Humans
- Insect Vectors / virology
- Population Surveillance / methods
- Prospective Studies
- Risk Factors
- Sentinel Surveillance / veterinary
- Seroepidemiologic Studies
- Songbirds
- West Nile Fever / epidemiology
- West Nile Fever / mortality
- West Nile Fever / veterinary
- West Nile Fever / virology
- West Nile virus / isolation & purification
References
This article includes 9 references
- MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999 Oct 1;48(38):845-9
- MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2000 Jul 21;49(28):640-2
- MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2000 Aug 11;49(31):714-8
- J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Nov;38(11):4066-71
- Lancet. 1998 Sep 5;352(9130):767-71
- Emerg Infect Dis. 2001 Jan-Feb;7(1):128-32
- Emerg Infect Dis. 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):662-4
- Emerg Infect Dis. 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):670-4
- MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2000 Nov 24;49(46):1044-7
Citations
This article has been cited 20 times.- Bedi JS, Vijay D, Dhaka P, Singh Gill JP, Barbuddhe SB. Emergency preparedness for public health threats, surveillance, modelling & forecasting. Indian J Med Res 2021 Mar;153(3):287-298.
- Chakraborty S, Smith RL. Error associated with estimates of Minimum Infection Rate for Endemic West Nile Virus in areas of low mosquito trap density. Sci Rep 2019 Dec 13;9(1):19093.
- Mutebi JP, Swope BN, Doyle MS, Biggerstaff BJ. Vector competence of Culex restuans (Diptera: Culicidae) from two regions of Chicago with low and high prevalence of West Nile virus human infections. J Med Entomol 2012 May;49(3):678-86.
- Liu A, Lee V, Galusha D, Slade MD, Diuk-Wasser M, Andreadis T, Scotch M, Rabinowitz PM. Risk factors for human infection with West Nile Virus in Connecticut: a multi-year analysis. Int J Health Geogr 2009 Nov 27;8:67.
- Scotch M, Odofin L, Rabinowitz P. Linkages between animal and human health sentinel data. BMC Vet Res 2009 Apr 23;5:15.
- Nicolle LE, Gutkin A, Smart G, Dawood M, Drebot M, Van Caeseele P, Giulivi A, Minuk G. Serological studies of West Nile virus in a liver transplant population. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 2004 Sep;15(5):271-4.
- Schellenberg TL, Anderson ME, Drebot MA, Vooght MT, Findlater AR, Curry PS, Campbell CA, Osei WD. Seroprevalence of West Nile virus in Saskatchewan's Five Hills Health Region, 2003. Can J Public Health 2006 Sep-Oct;97(5):369-73.
- Lord CC, Rutledge CR, Tabachnick WJ. Relationships between host viremia and vector susceptibility for arboviruses. J Med Entomol 2006 May;43(3):623-30.
- Molaei G, Andreadis TG, Armstrong PM, Anderson JF, Vossbrinck CR. Host feeding patterns of Culex mosquitoes and West Nile virus transmission, northeastern United States. Emerg Infect Dis 2006 Mar;12(3):468-74.
- Eidson M, Schmit K, Hagiwara Y, Anand M, Backenson PB, Gotham I, Kramer L. Dead crow density and West Nile virus monitoring, New York. Emerg Infect Dis 2005 Sep;11(9):1370-5.
- Hayes EB, Komar N, Nasci RS, Montgomery SP, O'Leary DR, Campbell GL. Epidemiology and transmission dynamics of West Nile virus disease. Emerg Infect Dis 2005 Aug;11(8):1167-73.
- Trevejo RT. Acute encephalitis hospitalizations, California, 1990-1999: unrecognized arboviral encephalitis?. Emerg Infect Dis 2004 Aug;10(8):1442-9.
- Watson JT, Jones RC, Gibbs K, Paul W. Dead crow reports and location of human West Nile virus cases, Chicago, 2002. Emerg Infect Dis 2004 May;10(5):938-40.
- Docherty DE, Long RR, Griffin KM, Saito EK. Corvidae feather pulp and West Nile virus detection. Emerg Infect Dis 2004 May;10(5):907-9.
- Julian KG, Mullins JA, Olin A, Peters H, Nix WA, Oberste MS, Lovchik JC, Bergmann A, Brechner RJ, Myers RA, Marfin AA, Campbell GL. Aseptic meningitis epidemic during a West Nile virus avian epizootic. Emerg Infect Dis 2003 Sep;9(9):1082-8.
- Guptill SC, Julian KG, Campbell GL, Price SD, Marfin AA. Early-season avian deaths from West Nile virus as warnings of human infection. Emerg Infect Dis 2003 Apr;9(4):483-4.
- Burt FJ, Grobbelaar AA, Leman PA, Anthony FS, Gibson GV, Swanepoel R. Phylogenetic relationships of southern African West Nile virus isolates. Emerg Infect Dis 2002 Aug;8(8):820-6.
- Andreadis TG, Anderson JF, Vossbrinck CR. Mosquito surveillance for West Nile virus in Connecticut, 2000: isolation from Culex pipiens, Cx. restuans, Cx. salinarius, and Culiseta melanura. Emerg Infect Dis 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):670-4.
- Eidson M, Miller J, Kramer L, Cherry B, Hagiwara Y. Dead crow densities and human cases of West Nile virus, New York State, 2000. Emerg Infect Dis 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):662-4.
- Petersen LR, Roehrig JT. West Nile virus: a reemerging global pathogen. Emerg Infect Dis 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):611-4.
Use Nutrition Calculator
Check if your horse's diet meets their nutrition requirements with our easy-to-use tool Check your horse's diet with our easy-to-use tool
Talk to a Nutritionist
Discuss your horse's feeding plan with our experts over a free phone consultation Discuss your horse's diet over a phone consultation
Submit Diet Evaluation
Get a customized feeding plan for your horse formulated by our equine nutritionists Get a custom feeding plan formulated by our nutritionists
