West Nile Virus Epidemics Worse with Global Warming
Drought has sharply boosted the intensity of deadly West Nile virus epidemics, which are set to worsen with global warming, scientists reported.
Their research, published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, offers the best explanation of why the disease's impact has varied so much from year to year since arriving in the United States nearly two decades ago.
"We thought epidemics would coincide with the most ideal temperatures for transmission," said co-author Marm Kilpatrick, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC).
"Instead, we found that the severity of drought was far more important."
Birds are the main host for the West Nile virus, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.
Ralf Kayser