Estimating the infection rate : West Nile virus seroprevalence in Alberta

The Medical Officers of Health in the nine regional health authorities who were essential to the successful public health follow-up component of the survey. [...] Albertans living in the Palliser Health Region, located in the southeast part of the province, had the highest seroprevalence rates: 4.17 per cent of individuals living in a rural area and West Nile Virus Seroprevalence in Alberta ii 1.87 per cent of individuals living in an urban area were estimated to have antibodies to WNv. [...] Those living in the south east part of the province where the risk of infection is greater had a higher reported level of worry than in the rest of Alberta. [...] After the discovery of WNv during the summer of 1999 in New York, USA, WNv spread rapidly to become established in nearly every part of the country. [...] West Nile Virus Seroprevalence in Alberta 6 The distribution of laboratory confirmed WNv cases in Alberta is clustered in the south east corner of the province, with the highest number observed in the Palliser Health Region each year to date (Figure 2).