Landscape and demographic determinants of Culex infection with West Nile virus during the 2012 epidemic in Dallas County, TX. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In 2012, the United States experienced one of the largest outbreaks of West Nile virus (WNV)-associated deaths, with the majority occurring in Dallas County (Co.), Texas (TX) and surrounding areas. In this study, logistic mixed models were used to identify associations between the landscape, human population, and WNV-infected Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes during the 2012 WNV epidemic in Dallas Co. We found increased probabilities for WNV-positive mosquitoes in north and central Dallas Co. The most significant predictors of the presence of WNV in Cx. quinquefasciatus pools were increased urbanization (based on an index composed of greater population density, lower normalized difference vegetation index, higher coverage of urban land types, and more impervious surfaces), older human populations, and lower elevation. These relationships between the landscape, sociodemographics, and risk of enzootic transmission identified regions of Dallas Co., TX with highest risk of spillover to human disease during the 2012 WNV epidemic.

published proceedings

  • Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol

altmetric score

  • 4.2

author list (cited authors)

  • Poh, K. C., Medeiros, M., & Hamer, G. L.

citation count

  • 4

complete list of authors

  • Poh, Karen C||Medeiros, Matthew CI||Hamer, Gabriel L

publication date

  • June 2020