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{{West nile virus}}
#REDIRECT:[[West nile virus]]
{{CMG}}
 
==Overview==
 
==History and Symptoms==
West Nile Fever is caused by Flavivirus. Birds are the natural reservoir of the virus and the virus is most commonly is trasmitted by mosquitoes. It is transmitted by many types of mosquitoes especially Culex mosquitoes. They carry the highest amount of risk of transmission in early fall and so the rate of disease is highest in late August to early September. After that the rate decreases as the mosquitoes cannot tolerate the cold. <ref name="pmidPMH0004457">{{cite journal| author=Kantrowitz ER, Lipscomb WN| title=An essential residue at the active site of aspartate transcarbamylase. | journal=J Biol Chem | year= 1976 | volume= 251 | issue= 9 | pages= 2688-95 | pmid=PMH0004457 | doi= | pmc= | url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&tool=sumsearch.org/cite&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=4457  }} </ref> It is also found in horses and vaccines are available for the disease in horses but not for human beings. The virus may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues.A very small proportion of human infections have occurred through organ transplant, blood transfusions and breast milk. There is one reported case of transplacental (mother-to-child) WNV transmission. To date, no human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented, and no transmission of WNV to health care workers has been reported when standard infection control precautions have been put in place.
Transmission of WNV to laboratory workers has been reported. 80% of the people infected with West Nile Virus are not aware that they are infected as it can be asymptomatic. West Nile fever can present with a variety of manifestation according to the severity of the diseases. It has three different effects on humans.
 
1) The first is an [[asymptomatic]] infection
 
2) The second is a mild [[febrile]] syndrome termed West Nile Fever;<ref>Olejnik E. "Infectious adenitis transmitted by ''Culex molestus''." ''Bull. Res. Counc. Isr.'' 1952; 2:
210-211.</ref>
 
3) The third is a neuroinvasive disease termed West Nile [[meningitis]] or [[encephalitis]].<ref>Smithburn K C, Jacobs H R. "Neutralization-tests against neurotropic viruses with sera collected in central Africa." ''Journal of Immunology'' 1942; 44: 923.</ref> In infected individuals the ratio between the three states is roughly 110:30:1.<ref>Tsai T F, Popovici F, Cernescu C, Campbell G L, Nedelcu N I. "West Nile encephalitis epidemic in south eastern Romania." ''Lancet'' 1998; 352: 767-771</ref>
 
The second, febrile stage has an incubation period of 3-8 days followed by fever, headache, chills, [[diaphoresis]], weakness, [[lymphadenopathy]], and drowsiness. Occasionally there is a short-lived truncal rash and some patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or diarrhea. All symptoms are resolved within 7-10 days, although fatigue can last for some weeks and lymphadenopathy can take up to two months to resolve.
 
The more dangerous encephalitis is characterized by similar early symptoms but also a decreased level of consciousness, sometimes approaching near-coma. Deep tendon reflexes are hyperactive at first, later diminished. There are also [[extrapyramidal disorder]]s. Recovery is marked by a long convalescence with fatigue.
 
More recent outbreaks have resulted in a deeper study of the disease and other, rarer, outcomes have been identified.The spinal cord may be infected, marked by [[anterior myelitis]] with or without encephalitis.<ref>Sejvar J J, Haddad M B, Tierney B C, Campbell G L, Marfin A A, VanGerpen J A, Fleischauer A, Leis A A, Stokic D S, Petersen L R. "Neurologic manifestations and outcome of West Nile virus infection." ''JAMA'' 2003; 290: 511-515.</ref> WNV-associated [[Guillain-Barré syndrome]] has been identified<ref>Ahmed S, Libman R, Wesson K, Ahmed F, Einberg K. "Guillain-Barre syndrome: an unusual presentation of West Nile virus infection." ''Neurology'' 2000; 55: 144-146.</ref> and other rare effects include multifocal [[chorioretinitis]] (which has 100% specificity for identifying WNV infection in patients with possible WNV encephalitis)<ref>Abroug F, Ouanes-Besbes L, Letaief M, Ben Romdhane F, Khairallah M, Triki H, Bouzouiaia N. "A cluster study of predictors of severe West Nile virus infection." ''Mayo Clinic Proceedings'' 2006; 81: 12-16.</ref> [[hepatitis]], [[myocarditis]], [[nephritis]], [[pancreatitis]], and [[splenomegaly]].<ref>Perelman A, Stern J. "Acute pancreatitis in West Nile Fever." ''American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene'' 1974; 23: 1150-1152.</ref><ref>Omalu B I, Shakir A A, Wang G, Lipkin W I, Wiley C A. "Fatal fulminant pan-meningo-polioencephalitis due to West Nile virus." ''Brain Pathology'' 2003; 13: 465-472</ref><ref>Mathiot C C, Georges A J, Deubel V. "Comparative analysis of West Nile virus strains isolated from human and animal hosts using monoclonal antibodies and cDNA restriction digest profiles." ''Res Virol'' 1990; 141: 533-543.</ref>
 
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
 
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[[Category:Disease]]
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Latest revision as of 15:11, 18 September 2014

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