From the 441 specimens investigated for WNV IgM antibodies, 61 (13.83%, 95.00% CI (10.92–17.37)) blood specimens and 2 (0.45%, 95.00% CI (0.12–1.64)) CSF specimens tested WNV IgM positive, totaling 63/441 (14.29%, 95.00% CI [11.33–17.86]) patients, however, only the 40 (9.07%, 95.00% CI (6.73–12.12)) patients whose infections could be confirmed by WNV VNTs were used for further analysis (refer to Table S2 for details on PCR, IgM and VNT test results). The gene discussed is CD40LG; the disease is infection.