Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded $436,157 to the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (University of Nebraska Medical Center) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) on April 6, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2028. This Project Grant funds research to reassess West Nile Virus (WNV) action thresholds for improved disease control. The project will evaluate how the variability in WNV RNA quantities, measured by cycle threshold (CT) values from mosquito surveillance pools, correlates with mosquito infectiousness and human infection risk. Specifically, the research will identify the biological underpinnings of observed variability in WNV RNA quantities and refine the Vector Index—a critical surveillance metric used by policymakers to assess human WNV infection risk in near real-time—by incorporating quantitative RT-qPCR data beyond the current binary presence/absence interpretation.

The research directly addresses a significant public health gap: while current surveillance robustly detects WNV in mosquito populations, increases in the Vector Index are not always followed by human case detection, suggesting the metric's accuracy can be improved. By establishing the reliability of CT values as predictors of mosquito infectiousness, the project will generate actionable data to enhance disease prevention and control strategies, ultimately supporting more effective public health decision-making for this consequential domestic arbovirus threat.