Spatial and temporal variability in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens can be caused by a large array of factors. These include the community composition and dynamics of the host and vector and their interaction with the pathogen. West Nile virus, a multi-host vector-borne pathogen, has infected over a million people in North America in the past 7 years and caused over 22,000 documented human cases of fever and neurologic disease and 820 deaths. Enormous spatial and temporal variability in West Nile virus activity has been evident at local and regional scales. The general hypothesis is that changes in key characteristics of mosquito and bird communities associated with anthropogenic land use cause spatial variation in West Nile virus transmission. Data will be gathered to test this hypothesis through experimental laboratory studies on avian host competence and mosquito vector competence and field research on local scale virus transmission in birds and mosquitoes on an urban-to-rural land-use gradient.
Understanding the mechanistic drivers of virus transmission and the influence of urbanization on zoonotic disease dynamics is critical to improving surveillance and control programs and ultimately reducing the impact of this and other viruses on human and wildlife health. This research will provide a mechanistic understanding and predictive model of the factors that create variability in West Nile virus transmission and will provide a critical framework for the generation of risk maps based on remote-sensing and mosquito surveillance data. A key component of this research is extensive teaching and training of graduate and undergraduate students in ecological veterinary, public health, and medical sciences. The results will be broadly disseminated to the public, policymakers, and other scientists.
