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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Terrestrial Invasives
  3. Terrestrial Pathogens and Diseases
  4. West Nile Virus

West Nile Virus

Scientific Name

Orthoflavivirus nilense (ICTV 2023)

Common Name

West Nile Virus (WNV)

Native To

First discovered in Africa (Roehrig 2013)

Date of U.S. Introduction

1999 (Roehrig 2013)

Means of Introduction

Unknown (Roehrig 2013)

Impact

Infects birds and mammals (including humans). West Nile virus is primarily an avian pathogen, and is transmitted among birds by ornithophilic (bird-biting) mosquitoes; including the Asian tiger mosquito and other mosquito species (Hayes et al. 2005)

Current U.S. Distribution

Most of U.S.

West nile virus - DOI, USGS

USGS Wildlife Veterinarian testing for the West Nile Virus USGS, National Wildlife Health Center DOI. USGS. Newsroom.

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Partnership
Federal Government
State and Local Government
Academic
Professional
Citations