title: Transmission dynamics of West Nile virus in mosquitoes and corvids and non-corvids.
abstract: There are more than 300 avian species that can transmit West Nile virus (WNv). In general, the corvid and non-corvid families of birds have different responses to the virus, with corvids suffering a higher disease-induced mortality rate. By taking both corvids and non-corvids as the primary reservoir hosts and mosquitoes as vectors; we formulate and study a system of ordinary differential equations to model a single season of the transmission dynamics of WNv in the mosquito-bird cycle. We calculate the basic reproduction number and analyze the existence and stability of the equilibria. The existence of a backward bifurcation gives a further sub-threshold condition beyond the basic reproduction number for the spread of the virus. We also discuss the role of corvids and non-corvids in spreading the virus. We conclude that knowledge of the relative abundance of corvid bird species and other mammals assist us in accurate estimation of the epidemic of WNv.
authors: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors: Ahmed
authors: A
authors: Abdelrazec
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: Lenhart
authors: Huaiping
authors: H
authors: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050936:Basic Reproduction Number; D003198:Computer Simulation; D046368:Crows / Q000821:virology*; D009033:Culicidae / Q000821:virology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000254:growth & development*
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