About 125 130 million years ago South America began to separate from Africa and as the continents drifted apart, an extensive rift valley was formed, containing large lakes with abundant organic material that had washed off the adjacent highlands. In Angola, these sediments are known as the Bucomazi formation, an exceedingly rich oil and gas source rock. The rift valleys are similar to the pres...

BACKGROUND The incidence of West Nile virus (WNv) has remained high in the northern Great Plains compared to the rest of the United States. However, the reasons for the sustained high risk of WNv transmission in this region have not been determined. To assess the environmental drivers of WNv in the northern Great Plains, we analyzed the county-level spatial pattern of human cases during the 200...

Mosquitoes and birds were sampled for West Nile virus (WNV) in suburban Chicago, USA, in a "hot spot" of arboviral transmission. Viral genetic diversity within this area was similar to that within Illinois and the United States. Diversity was higher among viruses from mosquitoes than from birds, higher among viruses from birds in urban "green spaces" than from birds in residential areas, but lo...

To assess environmental and horse-level risk factors associated with West Nile Virus (WNV) circulation in Camargue, Southern France, a serosurvey was conducted on non-vaccinated horses (n = 1159 from 134 stables) in 2007 and 2008. Fifteen Landsat images were examined to quantify areas with open water and flooded vegetation around sampled horses. Mean percentages of areas of open water and flood...

The objective of this study was to produce a malaria distribution map that would constitute a useful tool for development and health planners in West Africa. The recently created continental database of malaria survey results (MARA/ARMA 1998) provides the opportunity for producing empirical models and maps of malaria distribution at a regional and eventually at a continental level. This paper r...

1886 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 10, No. 10, October 2004 study conducted on French blood donors from September to November 2000 showed low titers of WNV neutralizing antibodies in two donors originating from the Département du Var (6). However, to date, no clinical human cases have been reported in this area. WNV must be considered as a causative agent of meningitis, ...

European magpies (Pica pica) from southern France were tested for antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV) and viral shedding in feces during spring-autumn 2005. Results suggest that this peridomestic species may be a suitable sentinel species and a relevant target for additional investigations on WNV ecology in Europe.

A West Nile virus (WNV) lineage 2 strain was molecularly identified and characterised in a Eurasian magpie hunted in Greece in 2010, during a WNV outbreak in humans. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the highest sequence similarity (>99%) with other WNV lineage 2 strains derived from birds of prey in Austria and Hungary (2004–2009). This first molecular detection of WNV in sedentary wild birds in ...

Since 2002, West Nile virus (WNV) has been detected every year in Houston and the surrounding Harris County, Texas. In 2014, the largest WNV outbreak to date occurred, comprising 139 cases and causing 2 deaths. Additionally, 1,286 WNV-positive mosquito pools were confirmed, the most reported in a single mosquito season.

We investigated the genetics and evolution of West Nile virus (WNV) since initial detection in the United States in 1999 on the basis of continual surveillance studies in the Houston, Texas, USA, metropolitan area (Harris County) as a surrogate model for WNV evolution on a national scale. Full-length genomic sequencing of 14 novel 2010-2012 WNV isolates collected from resident birds in Harris C...