title: Zoological institution participation in a West Nile Virus surveillance system: implications for public health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify attributes of zoological institutions and surveillance system factors that were associated with participation in the West Nile Virus Surveillance System for Zoological Institutions in the USA, and to assess the potential effectiveness of zoos as a novel data source for surveillance of emerging infectious zoonoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective.
  
  
  METHODS
  The number of specimens submitted between August 2001 and December 2006 for West Nile virus testing was determined for each institution. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the distribution of number of specimens submitted and features of the institutions. Student's t-test was used to assess potential associations between institutional and animal collection characteristics and the total number of specimens submitted by each institution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Factors associated with institutional participation include: submitting specimens for specific purposes of serosurvey testing, sentinel surveillance, vaccine titre checks, vaccine effectiveness, submitting specimens for multiple reasons, and communication with public health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding how zoo and surveillance system characteristics are associated with participation in this surveillance effort may enhance public health efforts and the design of future zoological surveillance efforts.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. elizabethpultorak@gmail.com
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pultorak
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nadler
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glaser
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo / Q000821:virology*; D003625:Data Collection; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance / Q000662:veterinary; D014481:United States; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D014902:West Nile virus; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000635:transmission