Dynamic transmission of West Nile virus across the United States-Mexican border

Virology. 2013 Feb 5;436(1):75-80. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2012.10.023. Epub 2012 Nov 7.

Abstract

Confirmed clinical and veterinary cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in Mexico remain restricted to northern Mexico, supporting a unidirectional transmission model from the US into Mexico. Full-length genomic sequencing of nine WNV isolates obtained from Culex spp. mosquito pools in El Paso, Texas (n=7) and Cuidad Juarez, Mexico (n=2) from 2005 to 2010 demonstrates the co-circulation of three independent genetic groups, two of which belong to the southwestern (SW/WN03) genotype and the other to the North American (NA/WN02) genotype. These results indicate ongoing dynamic circulation of WNV between the United States and Mexico.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Animals
  • Culex / virology*
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Insect Vectors / virology
  • Mexico
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Texas
  • United States
  • West Nile Fever / transmission*
  • West Nile Fever / veterinary
  • West Nile Fever / virology
  • West Nile virus / genetics*
  • West Nile virus / isolation & purification