Genetic Stasis of Dominant West Nile Virus Genotype, Houston, Texas

Abstract

The accumulation and fixation of mutations in West Nile virus (WNV) led to the emergence of a dominant genotype throughout North America. Subsequent analysis of 44 isolates, including 19 new sequences, from Houston, Texas, suggests that WNV has reached relative genetic stasis at the local level in recent years.

Keywords

• West Nile virus
• Flavivirus
• molecular epidemiology
• viral evolution
• phylogenetics
• dispatch