Estimated cumulative incidence of West Nile virus infection in US adults, 1999-2010.
West Nile virus (WNV) was first recognized in the USA in 1999. We estimated the cumulative incidence of WNV infection in the USA from 1999 to 2010 using recently derived age- and sex-stratified ratios of infections to WNV neuroinvasive disease (WNND) and the number of WNND cases reported to national surveillance. We estimate that over 3 million persons have been infected with WNV in the USA, with the highest incidence rates in the central plains states. These 3 million infections would have resulted in about 780 000 illnesses. A substantial number of WNV infections and illnesses have occurred during the virus' first decade in the USA.
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins CO, USA.
L R
LR
Petersen
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND, USA.
P J
PJ
Carson
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins CO, USA.
B J
BJ
Biggerstaff
Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.
B
B
Custer
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND, USA.
S M
SM
Borchardt
Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.
M P
MP
Busch
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014902:West Nile virus; D055815:Young Adult