Multi-Year Comparison of Community- and Species-Level West Nile Virus Antibody Prevalence in Birds from Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois, 2005-2016

West Nile virus (WNV) is prevalent in the United States but shows considerable variation in transmission intensity. The purpose of this study was to compare patterns of WNV seroprevalence in avian communities sampled in Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois during a 12-year period (Atlanta 2010-201...

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Published in:	The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 108; no. 2; pp. 366 - 376
Main Authors:	McMillan, Joseph R, Hamer, Gabriel L, Levine, Rebecca S, Mead, Daniel G, Waller, Lance A, Goldberg, Tony L, Walker, Edward D, Brawn, Jeffrey D, Ruiz, Marilyn O, Kitron, Uriel, Vazquez-Prokopec, Gonzalo
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Institute of Tropical Medicine 01-02-2023 The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Subjects:	Animals Antibodies, Viral Bird Diseases - epidemiology Birds Chicago - epidemiology Georgia - epidemiology Illinois - epidemiology Prevalence Seroepidemiologic Studies Serology West Nile Fever - epidemiology West Nile Fever - veterinary West Nile virus Chicago Illinois Georgia Atlanta Georgia Chicago Illinois United States > US
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Summary:	West Nile virus (WNV) is prevalent in the United States but shows considerable variation in transmission intensity. The purpose of this study was to compare patterns of WNV seroprevalence in avian communities sampled in Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois during a 12-year period (Atlanta 2010-2016; Chicago 2005-2012) to reveal regional patterns of zoonotic activity of WNV. WNV antibodies were measured in wild bird sera using ELISA and serum neutralization methods, and seroprevalence among species, year, and location of sampling within each city were compared using binomial-distributed generalized linear mixed-effects models. Seroprevalence was highest in year-round and summer-resident species compared with migrants regardless of region; species explained more variance in seroprevalence within each city. Northern cardinals were the species most likely to test positive for WNV in each city, whereas all other species, on average, tested positive for WNV in proportion to their sample size. Despite similar patterns of seroprevalence among species, overall seroprevalence was higher in Atlanta (13.7%) than in Chicago (5%). Location and year of sampling had minor effects, with location explaining more variation in Atlanta and year explaining more variation in Chicago. Our findings highlight the nature and magnitude of regional differences in WNV urban ecology.
Bibliography:	Financial support: In Chicago (2005–2012), this work was supported by the National Science Foundation/National Institutes of Health Ecology of Infectious Diseases program under Awards nos. 0429124 and 084040 to E. D. W., U. K., J. D. B., M. O. R., and T. L. G. In Atlanta, in 2010–2012, this work was supported by National Institutes of Health Training Grant 5T32AI055404-08 (to L. Real, Principal Investigator), the Emory University Department of Environmental Science, and the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (to D. M.); in 2013–2015, by University departmental startup funds (to U. K. and G. V.-P.) and the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (to D. M.); and in 2016, by Emory University Research Council Grant no. 00058626 (to G. V.-P.), the Emory University Department of Environmental Science (to G. V.-P.), and the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (to D. M.). Deceased. Authors’ addresses: Joseph R. McMillan, Rebecca Levine, Lance A. Waller, Uriel Kitron, and Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, Program in Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, E-mails: josmcmil@ttu.edu, rclevin@alum.emory.edu, lwaller@emory.edu, ukitron@emory.edu, and gmvazqu@emory.edu. Gabriel L. Hamer, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, E-mail: ghamer@tamu.edu. Daniel G. Mead, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, E-mail: dmead@uga.edu. Tony L. Goldberg, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, E-mail: tony.goldberg@wisc.edu. Edward D. Walker, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, E-mail: walker@msu.edu. Jeffrey D. Brawn, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Champaign–Urbana, Urbana, Illinois, E-mail: jbrawn@illinois.edu.
ISSN:	0002-9637 1476-1645
DOI:	10.4269/ajtmh.21-1086