Seasonal Bird Migration Could Explain Regional Synchronicity and Amplification in Human West Nile Virus Case Numbers.

ABSTRACT: West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic virus with a mosquito-avian transmission cycle having occasional spillover to mammals. A network analysis of annual log-transformed WNV case numbers (2003-2022) generated four spatially and temporally coherent clusters among 48 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. Cluster 1 and Cluster 3 were the largest groups corresponding to the Central Flyway and the closely associated Eastern Flyway (with an east-coast subset). Cluster 2 and Cluster 4 corresponded with less-well defined segments of a distinctly different Western Flyway. Thus, clustering can be explained by migratory pathways of terrestrial birds. We investigated avian involvement in the spread of WNV from potential sources in the southern U.S. Analyses revealed consistent patterns in log-transfor

SUBMITTER: Schwartz FW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11923459 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature