Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

West Nile Virus and Drought

  • Published:
Global Change and Human Health

Abstract

West Nile virus was first reported in Uganda in 1937. WNV is a zoonosis, with "spill-over" to humans, which also poses significant risks for wildlife, zoo and domestic animal populations. While it is not known how West Nile virus (WNV) entered the New World in 1999, anomalous weather conditions may have helped amplify this Flavivirus that circulates among urban mosquitoes, birds and mammals. We analyzed weather patterns coincident with a series of U.S. urban outbreaks of St. Louis encephalitis (SLE), (a disease with a similar life cycle), and four recent large outbreaks of WNV. Drought emerged as a common feature. As the potential risks from pesticides for disease control must be weighed against the health risks of the disease, an early warning system of conditions conducive to amplification of the enzootic cycle could help initiate timely preventive measures, and potentially limit chemical interventions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rappole JH, Derrickson SR, Hubálek Z. Migratory birds and spread of West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere. EID 2000; 6: 319–328.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Monath TP, Tsai TF. St Louis encephalitis:lessons from the last decade. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1987; 37: 40s-59s.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Spielman A. Population structure in the Culex pipiens complex of mosquitoes. Bull WHO 1967; 37: 271–276.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Savage H, Ceianu G, Nicolescu G, et al [Karabatsos N, Lanciotti R, Vladimirescu A, Laiv A, Ungureanu A, Romanca C, Tsai TF.] Entomologic and avian investigations of an epidemic of West Nile fever in Romania in 1996, with serologic and molecular characterization of a virus isolate from mosquitoes. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 61: 600–611.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Nash D, Mostashari F, Fine A, et al. [Miller J, O'Leary Durray K, Huang A, Rosenberg A, Greenberg A, Sherman M, Wong S, Layton M; 1999 West Nile Out-break Response Working Group.] The outbreak of West Nile virus infection in the New York City area in 1999. N Engl J Med 2001 344: 1858–9.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Platonov AE, Shipulin GA, Shipulina OY, et al. [Tyutyunnik EN, Frolochkina TI, Lanciotti RS, Yazyshina S, Platonova OV, Obukhov IL, Zhukov AN, Vengerov YY, Pokrovskii VI.] Outbreak of West Nile Virus infection, Volgograd region, Russia, 1999. EID 2001; 7: 128–132.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Marberg K, Goldblum N, Sterk VV, The natural history of West Nile fever. I. Clinical observations during an epidemic in Israel. Am J Hyg 1956; 64: 259–265.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, USA

    P. R. Epstein

  2. Division of Environmental Sciences and Public Policy Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA

    C. Defilippo

Authors
  1. P. R. Epstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Defilippo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Epstein, P.R., Defilippo, C. West Nile Virus and Drought. Global Change & Human Health 2, 105–107 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015089901425

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015089901425

Keywords

Search

Navigation