West nile virus prevalence across landscapes is mediated by local effects of agriculture on vector and host communities

David W Crowder; Elizabeth A Dykstra; Jo Marie Brauner; Anne Duffy; Caitlin Reed; Emily Martin; Wade Peterson; Yves Carrière; Pierre Dutilleul; Jeb P Owen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055006

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West nile virus prevalence across landscapes is mediated by local effects of agriculture on vector and host communities

Journal article

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West nile virus prevalence across landscapes is mediated by local effects of agriculture on vector and host communities

David W Crowder, Elizabeth A Dykstra, Jo Marie Brauner, Anne Duffy, Caitlin Reed, Emily Martin, Wade Peterson, Yves Carrière, Pierre Dutilleul and Jeb P Owen

PloS one, Vol.8(1), pp.e55006-e55006

2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055006

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108935

PMCID: PMC3559328

PMID: 23383032

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055006View

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Abstract

Climate

West Nile virus - physiology

Prevalence

Humans

Birds - virology

Bird Diseases - epidemiology

Culex - physiology

West Nile Fever - epidemiology

Bird Diseases - transmission

Horse Diseases - epidemiology

Horse Diseases - transmission

Spatial Analysis

Agriculture - statistics & numerical data

Animals

Insect Vectors - physiology

West Nile Fever - transmission

West Nile Fever - veterinary

Female

Horses - virology

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) threaten the health of humans, livestock, and wildlife. West Nile virus (WNV), the world's most widespread arbovirus, invaded the United States in 1999 and rapidly spread across the county. Although the ecology of vectors and hosts are key determinants of WNV prevalence across landscapes, the factors shaping local vector and host populations remain unclear. Here, we used spatially-explicit models to evaluate how three land-use types (orchards, vegetable/forage crops, natural) and two climatic variables (temperature, precipitation) influence the prevalence of WNV infections and vector/host distributions at landscape and local spatial scales. Across landscapes, we show that orchard habitats were associated with greater prevalence of WNV infections in reservoirs (birds) and incidental hosts (horses), while increased precipitation was associated with fewer infections. At local scales, orchard habitats increased the prevalence of WNV infections in vectors (mosquitoes) and the abundance of mosquitoes and two key reservoir species, the American robin and the house sparrow. Thus, orchard habitats benefitted WNV vectors and reservoir hosts locally, creating focal points for the transmission of WNV at landscape scales in the presence of suitable climatic conditions.

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Title: West nile virus prevalence across landscapes is mediated by local effects of agriculture on vector and host communities
Creators: David W Crowder - Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA. dcrowder@wsu.edu
Elizabeth A Dykstra
Jo Marie Brauner
Anne Duffy
Caitlin Reed
Emily Martin
Wade Peterson
Yves Carrière
Pierre Dutilleul
Jeb P Owen
Publication Details: PloS one, Vol.8(1), pp.e55006-e55006
Academic Unit: Entomology, Department of
Publisher: United States
Identifiers: 99900546902801842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article