Spatial and temporal expansions of Eastern equine encephalitis virus and phylogenetic groups isolated from mosquitoes and mammalian cases in New York State from 2013 to 2019

Abstract

Surveillance for the emerging infectious disease Eastern equine encephalitis, and its causative virus in mosquitoes, continued within New York State from 2013 to 2019. There were increases in geographic area and number of consecutive years, with cases in four mammalian species, and virus in 11 mosquito species. The first cases in a goat and in an emu were reported. The first detection of virus in Aedes cinereus was reported. Virus in phylogenetic group NY4 was isolated from a horse and from mosquitoes 6 kilometers and 13 days apart in 2013. Phylogenetic groups NY4 and NY5 were found 15 days apart in two towns 280 kilometers distant in 2013. Within four adjacent counties there was a pattern of overlap, where four had NY5, two adjacent counties had NY6, two adjacent counties had NY7, and one county had NY5, NY6, and NY7, reducible to a Euler diagram. Virus in phylogenetic group NY5, found within an 11-kilometer wide area in New York State, was related to FL4 found in Florida 1,398 kilometers distant. This was consistent with a phylogenetic group originating in Florida, then being moved to a specific location in New York State, by migratory birds in consecutive years 2013 and 2014.

Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis in Michigan: Historical Review of Equine, Human, and Wildlife Involvement, Epidemiology, Vector Associations, and Factors Contributing to Endemicity

“…Accompanying this demonstrable increase in EEE activity over time was an expansion in the geographic range of occurrence of equid, human, and wildlife cases. Similar expansions in geographic range for EEE have been observed in New York State and New England ( Armstrong and Andreadis 2013 ; Oliver et al 2016 , 2020 ).…”

“…Nonetheless, similar glacial processes may have resulted in the geographic distribution of the kinds of mixed hardwood and conifer swamps associated with EEE foci in the northeastern United States and in New York State ( Morris et al 1980 , Howard et al 1996 , Molaei et al 2015 , Skaff et al 2017 ). As EEEV expands its range in the northern tier of its presently known distribution ( Armstrong and Andreadis 2013 ; Oliver et al 2016 , 2018 , 2020 ) and becomes increasingly recognized as an emergent disease ( Morens et al 2019 ), investigations of landforms that may provide biological elements receptive for Cs. melanura ecology and EEEV foci to develop need to be done, and changes in temperature regime favoring a longer growing season as well.…”

“…The geographic distribution of EEE has been largely restricted to the eastern coastal states and provinces of the United States and southeastern Canada, proceeding along the Atlantic and Gulf coast states from New Hampshire to Texas ( Letson et al 1993 , Armstrong and Andreadis 2013 ). Inland (noncoastal or near-coastal) foci have been described in upstate New York, central Alabama, at a single wildlife refuge in central Ohio, northwest Wisconsin, and in lower Michigan ( McLean et al 1985 ; Nasci et al 1993 ; Lindsey et al 2018 , 2020 ; Oliver et al 2020 ).…”

Ecology and Epidemiology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in the Northeastern United States: An Historical Perspective

“…(1) The large number and repeated frequency of viral infections detected in field-collected females, especially during outbreak years ( Howard et al 1988 , Edman et al 1993 , Andreadis et al 1998 , Oliver et al 2020 , McMillan et al 2020 ). For example, from 2004 to 2009, more than 73% of all EEEV positive pools ( n = 1,056 representing 21 species) reported to CDC ArboNET for the entire northeast region (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI) were from Cs.…”

The Structural Biology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, an Emerging Viral Threat

“…For instance, Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arthritogenic alphavirus, was responsible for an epidemic that affected millions in the Indian subcontinent and islands in the Indian Ocean in 2006 [ 8 ]. In contrast to arthritogenic alphaviruses, infections of encephalitic alphaviruses are often associated with mortality, especially for EEEV, which is endemic mostly to the Americas [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. EEEV is transmitted by the mosquito Culiseta melanura mostly to birds [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”