Introduction

Hawaiian West Nile virus Interagency Task Force

Introduction

First isolated in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937, West Nile virus spread throughout many parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Africa, Europe and the Middle East.  The virus' initial discovery in the New World was made in August,1999, in the New York City vicinity. Throughout the Old World, WNV was not associated with large scale bird mortality. In NYC, however, many bird species (i.e. the American Crow) experienced a high death rate following WNV infection. Since its appearance in 1999, WNV has been expanding rapidly across the United States. Making its way south in 2000, the virus' movement appears to be consistent with the migration of birds, acting as reservoir hosts for the virus.

The Consortium has entered into a seven year, $557K subcontract with the NY State Department of Health to study WNV (Lead PI Laura Kramer).  The Consortium  project will asses two recent hypotheses on the role of anthropogenic change and environmental factors in the emergence and spread of WNV:

• Avian biodiversity loss-Anthropogenic factors contributing to the loss of avian biodiversity include deforestation, expansion of agriculture, and urbanization. In particular, urbanized areas of the US are often inhabited by populations of introduced avian species that are able to produce high WNV viremia. Our project will examine  whether a loss of biodiversity results in the persistence of these highly competent reservoirs for WNV, and therefore, higher risk of infection to humans. We will map these data to produce a hotspot approach to WNV in the US.
   

• Local scale drought-flood cycles-The presence of spring droughts followed by summer rains causes the creation of small pools high in organic matter.  Such pools, under the influence of high temperatures, provide favorable breeding grounds for mosquitoes, leading to the rapid reproduction of carrier hosts.  A recent CCM publication , by Dr. Paul Epstein of Harvard's CHGE, proposed these drought-flood cycles produce ideal conditions for the spread of WNV. We aim to test these hypotheses using spatial-temporal analyses of climate data in GIS.
   

The project will be managed by Dr. Peter Daszak, Executive Director at the CCM.  Collaborators on the project include: Prof. A.P. Dobson of Princeton University, a wildlife disease mathematical modeler;  Dr P. Epstein, assistant director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School; Prof. A. Dhondt, an ornithologist at Cornell University;Prof. P. Hudson, a wildlife disease ecologist at Penn State; and Marm Kilpatrick, Senior Research Scientist at the CCM.
 
Results of the WNV research initiative could yield important implications for future management of mosquito, as well as avian, populations.  In addition, the success of the program could aid in broadening this approach to similarly emerging wildlife diseases, such as Nipah Virus.  Applying this approach to programs already in progress could significantly increase our understanding of emerging diseases, bringing us closer to formulating solutions capable of neutralizing these threats.
 

Hawaiian West Nile virus Interagency Task Force

The CCM is part of an interagency working group led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawai‘i . The group is headed by Fish and Wildlife Biologist Dr. Jeff Burgett, and is charged with the organization of West Nile virus prevention strategies and response protocols for the State of Hawai‘i. Approximately 33% of birds listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act are from Hawai‘i. The introduction of WNV into their environment could lead to extinctions of a large proportion of the state's endemic birds.

Many of Hawai‘i's import regulations from the mainland states are the same for any other state and there is growing concern that imported birds for the pet trade, for agriculture and other reasons may soon bring in West Nile virus. The working group conducts regular meetings to brainstorm how WNV may spread to the islands in the hopes of preventing its invasion. Columbia University CERC student Kate Gluzberg recently finished a summer internship (organized through the CCM) that allowed her to assess the relative risk of WNV gaining entry into Hawai‘i through the importation of various avian species. Her work is now being used to help refine policy on quarantine and import regulations. The taskforce plans to organize a workshop in 2004, which will finalize a comprehensive strategy to prevent WNV entering Hawai‘i and protect native biodiversity if it does arrive.

Status - August 2003