West Nile Virus
West Nile Virus
West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, is most commonly found in West Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. This RNA virus can infect the central nervous system (CNS) of various hosts, causing severe neurologic disease. It was initially discovered in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda. Historically, WNV has been associated with infrequent human outbreaks associated with asymptomatic or mild febrile illness that was self-limiting, affecting mostly children, groups of soldiers, and healthy adults in Israel and Africa. Since the mid-1990s, however, there has been an increase in human and equine outbreaks and an increase in severe human disease.
Prior to the 1990s, WNV had never been detected in North America. The first documented occurrence of WNV in the Western Hemisphere was during an outbreak of encephalitis in Queens, New York, in the late summer of 1999. Since this time, WNV has spread from one state in 1999, to three states in 2000, 10 states in 2001, and 46 states in 2003. It has been detected in all 48 states in the continental United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. WNV has also spread northward and southward, affecting Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. WNV has become an emerging infectious disease in the Western Hemisphere, and is the most common cause of epidemic meningoencephalitis in this region. This article will review the epidemi-ology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, current treatment, and prevention of WNV.
Abstract and Introduction
Introduction
West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, is most commonly found in West Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. This RNA virus can infect the central nervous system (CNS) of various hosts, causing severe neurologic disease. It was initially discovered in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda. Historically, WNV has been associated with infrequent human outbreaks associated with asymptomatic or mild febrile illness that was self-limiting, affecting mostly children, groups of soldiers, and healthy adults in Israel and Africa. Since the mid-1990s, however, there has been an increase in human and equine outbreaks and an increase in severe human disease.
Prior to the 1990s, WNV had never been detected in North America. The first documented occurrence of WNV in the Western Hemisphere was during an outbreak of encephalitis in Queens, New York, in the late summer of 1999. Since this time, WNV has spread from one state in 1999, to three states in 2000, 10 states in 2001, and 46 states in 2003. It has been detected in all 48 states in the continental United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. WNV has also spread northward and southward, affecting Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. WNV has become an emerging infectious disease in the Western Hemisphere, and is the most common cause of epidemic meningoencephalitis in this region. This article will review the epidemi-ology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, current treatment, and prevention of WNV.
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