Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

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4.5 RISK OF RVF ESTABLISHMENT AND TRANSMISSION TO HUMANS IN VIRGINIA
The weighted suitability modeling process to create a risk map for the establishment
of RVF in Virginia is shown in Figure 4.14. Domestic animals (cattle, sheep, and goats) and
white-tailed deer were considered to be the principal hosts that would play a role in the
establishment of the RVF virus in Virginia. Domestic animals were assigned a weight of
0.50 due to their established importance with respect to the ecology and epidemiology of the
virus in RVF endemic regions of the world and relative importance in U.S. agricultural
economy: out of the 1,119,517 farms that raised 101,772,203 domestic ruminants in the U.S.
in 2002, Virginia is one of 12 states that together had 32.37% and 31.85% of all the farms
and animals, respectively (USDA 2006). White-tailed deer were also assigned a weight of
0.50 due to the high density and widespread distribution of the species among areas of high
human population (VDGIF 2009), and the potential importance the RVF virus naïve
population may play in potential RVF virus establishment in Virginia. The resulting interim
Host layer and Vector layer (MaxEnt mosquito habitat suitability model) were then assigned
equal weights (0.50) to sum to 1.0. The resulting risk map for the establishment of RVF in
Virginia is displayed in Figure 4.15. For descriptive purposes, outputs of the weighted
suitability model were classified using histograms to indicate very low and low risk in green,
medium risk in yellow, and high and very high risk in the red.
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