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West Nile Virus

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Abstract

West Nile virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus. Other members of the Flaviviridae family that are major human pathogens include Japanese encephalitis virus (JE), Saint Louis Encephalitis virus (SLE), Dengue virus, and Yellow fever virus. West Nile virus is maintained in nature in an enzootic cycle between birds and mosquitoes. The virus is amplified in the avian host and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites. Transmission is usually during the summer months, peaking in August in the USA. Symptoms range from a mild febrile illness to devastating neurological disease with high morbidity and mortality and treatment remains supportive at this time. The dynamic relationship between vectors and hosts, including mosquito feeding and avian migratory patterns together with a changing climate, has facilitated the distribution of WNV as one of the most widespread arboviruses in the world. This chapter recaps the major findings about this virus, its fascinating journey from its original home in Africa to Eurasia and the western hemisphere, its pathogenesis and clinical manifestations and briefly reviews the factors that may have contributed to its spread and its potential as a bioterrorism weapon.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Chakrapol Sriaroon, MD, Elvis Castillo, MD and Phoung Y. Nguyen, MD for their contribution.

The authors report no financial conflicts.

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Correspondence to Sally F. Alrabaa M.D. .

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Alrabaa, S.F., Somboonwit, C., Shapshak, P. (2015). West Nile Virus. In: Shapshak, P., Sinnott, J., Somboonwit, C., Kuhn, J. (eds) Global Virology I - Identifying and Investigating Viral Diseases. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2410-3_17

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