| susceptibility and antibody response of vesper sparrows (pooecetes gramineus) to west nile virus: a potential amplification host in sagebrush-grassland habitat. | west nile virus (wnv) spread to the us western plains states in 2003, when a significant mortality event attributed to wnv occurred in greater sage-grouse ( centrocercus urophasianus ). the role of avian species inhabiting sagebrush in the amplification of wnv in arid and semiarid regions of the north america is unknown. we conducted an experimental wnv challenge study in vesper sparrows ( pooecetes gramineus ), a species common to sagebrush and grassland habitats found throughout much of north ... | 2016 | 26981692 |