What is West Nile Virus - It is a virus of the family 'Flaviviridae', found in numerous regions. Photographs from a high resolution electron microscope reveal the virus as
spherical with a slightly bumpy surface but no projecting protein limbs. It has a resemblance in appearance to the 'dengue fever' virus.
What causes West Nile Virus - It mainly infects birds, but is also the cause of a number of conditions in humans and horses, and some other mammals. West Nile virus is a virus
mainly transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito.
Symptoms Of West Nile Virus
- In most people West Nile Virus, infection causes no symptoms to appear. In other people it causes flu-like
symptoms known as West Nile Fever. The virus is able to pass the blood-brain barrier, and the most serious effects are inflammation of the brain, which can be fatal.
Persons over 45 years of age are at higher risk of developing severe disease, the symptoms of which include fever, nausea, stiff neck and changes in mental status.
In rare cases patients develop sudden paralysis.
Symptoms develop 3-15 days after infection. No effective treatment is known. The virus is mostly maintained in birds. Female mosquitos bite infected birds, carry
the virus in their salivary glands, and infect other birds when they bite again. Culex pipiens is thought to be the main mosquito species transmit the virus from birds
to mammals. In mammals the virus does not multiply as readily, and it is believed that mosquitos biting infected mammals do not further transmit the virus.
It was initially believed that direct human-to-human transmission was impossible, but the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) discovered the transmission of
West Nile virus through blood transfusion and organ transplants as well as through breast milk and prenatal infection.
Treatment For West Nile Virus
- Morpholino antisense oligos have shown some activity against West Nile Virus in experiments, and are
currently in clinical trial stage as a West Nial Virus treatment.
West Nile Virus Prevention
- The best way to prevent West Nile Virus is to stop the mosquitoes from biting you.
There are a lot of things you can do to avoid the mosquitos, such as: Spend less time outdoors between dusk to dawn. Empty standing water from bird baths, pails
or other containers. If you have a small pond or water garden, add fish, since fish will eat the mosquito larvae. Add a fountain or waterfall. Moving water deters
mosquitoes. Make sure your open windows are covered securely with screens, screens that have no holes or other openings in them.
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