title: West Nile virus in the Americas.
abstract: Since the first detection of West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere in 1999, the virus has spread rapidly across the North American continent and as far south as Argentina. An unprecedented pattern of large annual epidemics of human neuroinvasive disease continues in North America, resulting in considerable public health impact. The high infection incidence in humans has resulted in non-mosquito transmission modes, such as through transfused blood and transplanted organs. West Nile virus incursion into Latin America and the Caribbean Islands has resulted in surprisingly low human, avian, and equine morbidity and mortality despite evidence that West Nile virus strains circulating in those regions are similar to those in North America.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1350 Rampart Road, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA. lxp2@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Lyle R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Edward B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Hayes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018177:Flavivirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D014900:West Indies / Q000453:epidemiology; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control