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Volume 10, Number 9—September 2004
Dispatch

Year-round West Nile Virus Activity, Gulf Coast Region, Texas and Louisiana

Robert B. Tesh*Comments to Author , Ray Parsons†, Marina Siirin*, Yvonne Randle†, Chris Sargent†, Hilda Guzman*, Taweesak Wuithiranyagool†, Stephen Higgs*, Dana L. Vanlandingham*, Adil A. Bala†, Keith Haas‡, and Brian Zerinque§
Author affiliations: *University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA; †Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Houston, Texas, USA; ‡Galveston County Mosquito Control District, Dickinson, Texas, USA; §Mosquito Control Contractors, Inc., New Iberia, Louisiana, USA

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Table 1

Monthly summary of dead birds and mosquitoes tested for West Nile virus (WNV) in Harris County, Texas

Year/month Mean 
temperature (°C)a Total birds tested No. WNV-positive 
(% positive) Total mosquitoes tested No. WNV-positive mosquito poolsb WNV minimum infection rate
2003
  January 10.6 46 0 2,164 0 0.00
  February 12.5 62 0 1,146 0 0.00
  March 16.7 80 0 5,304 0 0.00
  April 21.4 98 1 (1.0) 39,000 0 0.00
  May 27.1 213 4 (1.9) 58,698 2 0.03
  June 27.9 219 33 (15.1) 42,041 40 0.95
  July 28.2 205 72 (35.1) 54,582 203 3.72
  August 28.9 164 83 (50.6) 40,184 128 3.19
  September 25.5 127 38 (29.9) 34,691 21 0.61
  October 22.2 73 11 (15.1) 41,465 4 0.10
  November 18.7 20 2 (10) 7,562 2 0.13
  December 12.6 7 1 (14.3) 8,411 0 0.00
2004
  January 13.2 26 1 (3.8) 12,816 0 0.00
  February 12.3 146 3 (2.1) 9,790 0 0.00
  March 19.5 137 1 (0.7) 14,714 0 0.00
Total – 1,623 250 (15.4) 372,568 400 1.07

aMean monthly temperature in Houston (Harris County) (11).
bMean pool size was 28.2 mosquitoes/pool.

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