Exposure of domestic mammals to West Nile virus during an outbreak of human encephalitis, New York City, 1999.
We evaluated West Nile (WN) virus seroprevalence in healthy horses, dogs, and cats in New York City after an outbreak of human WN virus encephalitis in 1999. Two (3%) of 73 horses, 10 (5%) of 189 dogs, and none of 12 cats tested positive for WN virus-neutralizing antibodies. Domestic mammals should be evaluated as sentinels for local WN virus activity and predictors of the infection in humans.
Komar
N
N
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, P.O. Box 2087, Fort Collins, CO 80522, USA. nck6@cdc.gov
Panella
N A
NA
Boyce
E
E
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002415:Cats; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D004285:Dogs; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral