Collaboration and Innovation: CDCs COE Partnerships with AMCA Professionals Symposium I
Collaboration and Innovation: CDCs COE Partnerships with AMCA Professionals Symposium I
Since the first detection of West Nile virus (WNV) in the US in 1999, nearly 55,000 people have tested positive and more than 2,700 have died. Our study reveals novel insights regarding West Nile virus in Maricopa County and the greater southwest: 1) WNV is endemic in Maricopa County, overwintering and reemerging annually, with a limited number of new and short-lived importations, 2) This endemic WNV population is the longest known in any US county, persisting over the past decade, 3) Preliminarily, that genomically-derived effective population size estimates are strong predictors of spillover risk, and 4) WNV in Maricopa County repeatedly spills over into other southwestern counties, indicating that this viral population is not only important for the public health of Maricopa County residents, but the rest of the region as well. Network analyses have revealed that a limited number of trap sites actually contribute to the ongoing transmission network in Maricopa County, and these traps trap sites may be ideal locations for additional mitigation activities.