Stay informed during the summer months to understand the risk level in your county:
ArboNET: The CDC’s interactive map displays reported cases across the country.
Local Monitoring: Check the local news, published reports, or the health department for information on virus activity, e.g., testing of WNV in birds and mosquitoes. Be alert when excessive dead birds are seen, and cases of horse WNV disease are reported.
Castillo-Olivares, J., & Wood, J. (2004). West Nile virus infection of horses. Veterinary research, 35(4), 467-483.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). ArboNET Surveillance System.
https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/php/arbonet/index.html.
Figueiredo, L. T. M. (2007). Emergent arboviruses in Brazil. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, 40(2), 224-229.
Gould, C. V., Staples, J. E., Guagliardo, S. A. J., Martin, S. W., Lyons, S., Hills, S. L., Petersen, L. R. (2025). West Nile virus: a review. JAMA.
Ng, T., Hathaway, D., Jennings, N., Champ, D., Chiang, Y. W., & Chu, H. J. (2003). Equine vaccine for West Nile virus. Developments in biologicals, 114, 221-227.
Ronca, S. E., Ruff, J. C., & Murray, K. O. (2021). A 20-year historical review of West Nile virus since its initial emergence in North America: Has West Nile virus become a neglected tropical disease?. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 15(5), e0009190.
Ainsley Yuknis
Research Assistant
Ainsley.Yuknis@kysu.edu
Katherine Kamminga
Assistant Professor of Entomology
Katherine.Kamminga@kysu.edu
Thank you to Professor Alexander Lai, Jennifer Rydzewski, and the DuPage County Forest Preserve for serving as reviewers for this info sheet.