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Article: Land use and West Nile virus seroprevalence in wild mammals.(DISPATCHES)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- June 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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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.
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West Nile virus (WNV) is maintained in an enzootic bird-mosquito-bird cycle and is transmitted by numerous mosquito species, including many that feed on mammals (1). Several mammal species have been found to be naturally exposed to WNV, and it has been suggested that wild mammals could be used ...