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West Nile virus


West Nile virus, virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae, related to viruses that can cause yellow fever and dengue and more closely to viruses that can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Predominantly an infection of birds, West Nile virus is highly fatal for many avian species (e.g., crows and other corvids). A threat to human health occurs when infected birds are bitten by mosquitoes, which then transmit the virus to humans. Most human infections are inapparent or mild, causing a flulike illness that usually lasts only a few days. However, in a minority of infected persons, particularly in those over the age of 50, the virus multiplies in the lymphoid tissue and circulates in the bloodstream (possibly also multiplying in leukocytes, or white blood cells) before reaching the brain, resulting in encephalitis. Symptoms of West Nile encephalitis include headache, fever, neck stiffness, disorientation, and muscle weakness. Death may result.

  • Birds are the primary reservoirs of West Nile virus. The virus is transmitted to humans and horses …
    Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

West Nile virus historically was largely confined to Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Russia, India, and Indonesia, where it caused occasional, usually minor, epidemics of denguelike illness or sporadic encephalitis. However, the virus eventually was imported more broadly into Europe by migratory birds, and in 1999 it reached the United States, emerging in New York City, where it was detected in both birds and people. The virus subsequently was isolated from mosquitoes in Connecticut, and antibodies were detected in horses in Connecticut and New York state. West Nile virus also spread into Canada and the Caribbean and, later, to most other U.S. states.

  • Colourized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of West Nile virus.
    P.E. Rollin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; photograph, Cynthia Goldsmith

The number of bird, equine, and human cases in North America fluctuates annually. One of the most severe outbreaks in the United States was reported in 2012, when cases increased rapidly in late summer, particularly in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas.

There is no specific treatment for infection with West Nile virus. In severe cases, intensive medical care is necessary, with continuous monitoring of respiratory function, management of fluid and electrolyte balance, and prevention of secondary infections.

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...which had also spread north through Central America and Mexico and into the United States, causing illness in thousands more people and killing tens of thousands of equines as it spread. A 2002 West Nile virus epidemic in the United States was the largest human encephalitis outbreak recorded in the Western Hemisphere at the time.
Aedes aegypti mosquito, a carrier of yellow fever and dengue.
acute infectious disease, one of the great epidemic diseases of the tropical world, though it sometimes has occurred in temperate zones as well. The disease, caused by a flavivirus, infects humans, all species of monkeys, and certain other small mammals. The virus is transmitted from animals to...
acute, infectious, mosquito-borne fever that is temporarily incapacitating but rarely fatal. Besides fever, the disease is characterized by an extreme pain in and stiffness of the joints (hence the name “breakbone fever”). Complication of dengue fever can give rise to a more severe...
West Nile virus
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