West Nile Virus Ecology in a Tropical Ecosystem in Guatemala
Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 88(1), 2013, pp. 116–126 doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0276 Copyright © 2013 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene West Nile Virus Ecology in a Tropical Ecosystem in Guatemala Maria E. Morales-Betoulle,† Nicholas Komar,*† Nicholas A. Panella, Danilo Alvarez, Marı´aR.Lo´pez, Jean-Luc Betoulle, Silvia M. Sosa, Marı´aL.Mu¨ ller, A. Marm Kilpatrick, Robert S. Lanciotti, Barbara W. Johnson, Ann M. Powers, Celia Cordo´ n-Rosales, and the Arbovirus Ecology Work Group‡ Center for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arbovirus Disease Branch, Fort Collins, Colorado; University of California, Santa Cruz, California; Fundacio´n Mario Dary, Guatemala City, Guatemala; and Fundacio´n para el Ecodesarrollo, Guatemala City, Guatemala Abstract. West Nile virus ecology has yet to be rigorously investigated in the Caribbean Basin. We identified a transmission focus in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, and established systematic monitoring of avian abundance and infec- tion, seroconversions in domestic poultry, and viral infections in mosquitoes. West Nile virus transmission was detected annually between May and October from 2005 to 2008. High temperature and low rainfall enhanced the probability of chicken seroconversions, which occurred in both urban and rural sites. West Nile virus was isolated from Culex quinquefasciatus and to a lesser extent, from Culex mollis/Culex inflictus, but not from the most abundant Culex mosquito, Culex nigripalpus. A calculation that combined avian abundance, seroprevalence, and vertebrate reservoir competence suggested that great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is the major amplifying host in this ecosystem.
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