Serosurvey of a Rural Human Population for the Presence of West Nile Virus Antibodies
presentation
posted on 29.07.2014, 00:00 authored by James R. HutchisonWest Nile Virus (WNV) is an RNA arbovirus in the family Flaviviridae. While birds are the primary reservoir for the virus, humans can be a dead end host. In Wyoming, the Culex tarsalis mosquito acts as the primary vector. Most human infections are asymptomatic. In less than 1% of infections, however, severe symptoms including paralysis, meningitis, encephalitis, and death may occur. Fremont County is a hot spot of WNV with 69% of all human cases in Wyoming reported in 2006. Our study proposes to conduct a serosurvey of the human population of Fremont County to determine the number of people exposed to WNV. Sera will be tested using commercially available IgG and IgM antibody kits.