Arboviruses include mosquitoborne and tickborne agents that persist in nature in complex cycles involving birds or mammals, including humans.
Arboviral infection can cause fever, headache, meningitis, encephalitis, and sometimes death.
Surveillance programs in 18 states detected enzootic arboviral activity in mosquito or sentinel or wild bird populations, and cases of arboviral disease were recognized among horses or emus in 24 states. This report summarizes information about arboviral infection of the central nervous system in the United States during 1996-1997. Dates of onset of illness ranged from late June to early November. Dates of onset of illness ranged from July 21 to late October. During 1997, Florida reported nine cases from seven central or southern counties.