title: Exploring the spatio-temporal dynamics of reservoir hosts, vectors, and human hosts of West Nile virus: a review of the recent literature.
abstract: Over the last two decades West Nile Virus (WNV) has been responsible for significant disease outbreaks in humans and animals in many parts of the World. Its extremely rapid global diffusion argues for a better understanding of its geographic extent. The purpose of this inquiry was to explore spatio-temporal patterns of WNV using geospatial technologies to study populations of the reservoir hosts, vectors, and human hosts, in addition to the spatio-temporal interactions among these populations. Review of the recent literature on spatial WNV disease risk modeling led to the conclusion that numerous environmental factors might be critical for its dissemination. New Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based studies are monitoring occurrence at the macro-level, and helping pinpoint areas of occurrence at the micro-level, where geographically-targeted, species-specific control measures are sometimes taken and more sophisticated methods of surveillance have been used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA. eozdenrl@memphis.edu.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozdenerol
authors.forename: Gregory N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Taff
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akkus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D015994:Incidence; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000502:physiology*