Final answer:
The increase in West Nile virus cases in New Jersey is likely due to changing climate, which creates ideal conditions for disease-carrying insects to thrive and spread diseases more quickly.
Step-by-step explanation:
The significant reason New Jersey is experiencing an increase in West Nile virus is most likely due to changing climate. This environmental factor has not only expanded the range of disease-carrying insects but also accelerated their lifecycles, allowing for quicker breeding and potentially faster evolution of pesticide resistance. Moreover, climate change is associated with population movement and construction, which affect the feeding and breeding grounds of vectors such as mosquitoes, resulting in a higher prevalence of vector-borne diseases like West Nile virus.
Referencing Environmental Biology 297, the increasing temperatures due to climate change are expected to spread vector-borne diseases to new areas. Since West Nile virus is transmitted by the Culex species of mosquito, which thrives in warmer conditions, a rise in temperature facilitates an environment where the virus can spread more easily.