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The Spread of West Nile Virus in Epidemic Proportions
The West Nile Fever is a mosquito borne virus that infects primarily birds but also, less commonly humans, horses and other domesticated animals. ... The disease is carried by mosquitoes, and when they draw blood from a host, they inject a serum that is infected with the virus. The virus is only communicable through mosquitos. ... “Four patients have all been infected with West Nile Virus after receiving organ transplants from the same donor”(1). It is a possible that the virus can be infectious through blood exchange as well as through mosquitoes.
The West Nile Virus was first discovered from the blood of a women in the West Nile region of Uganda in 1937 while she was participating in a study on malaria, another disease transmitted by mosquitos. The Virus has been active all over the world. People in parts of Africa, the Middle East, western Asia, and India have all been exposed to the virus, with the majority of the time showing little effects. ... The largest recorded epidemic caused by the West Nile Virus occurred in South Africa in 1974. A large human out break of West Nile encephalitis occurred in Israel in 2000. European epidemics of West Nile encephalitis have occurred in southern France in 1962, in southeastern Romania in 1996 and in south-central Russia in 1999. ... On September 14, 1999 the virus was first isolated in the United States from a dead crow found by a veterinarian of the Bronx Zoo in New York City. Cooperation from the CDC, local health officials and the animal pathologists at the zoo made the quick recognition of the West Nile Virus possible. ... There is a very close genetic relationship between the West Nile Virus isolates from Israel and New York City. This suggests that the virus was most likely imported to the United States from the Middle East.
Since the first instances of West Nile Virus that were recorded in September of 1999, there were 43 cases and 7 death in New York City in the following months. ... As of November 15, 2002 the current case count of the disease in the United States has reached 3,619 infected persons and 212 deaths attributed to the virus. ... Since its introduction, the West Nile Fever has spread throughout North America in epidemic proportions.
“Since the original isolation of West Nile Virus, outbreaks have occurred infrequently in humans, those in Israel (1951-54 and 1957) and South Africa (1974) being most notable. Since the mid-1990s, however, three disturbing epidemiological trends for West Nile Virus have emerged: 1) increase in frequency of outbreaks in humans and horses (Romania 1996; Morocco 1996; Tunisia 1997; Italy 1998; Russia, the United States, and Israel 1999; and Israel, France, and the United States (2000); 2) apparent increase in severe human disease (confirmed human infections in recent outbreaks: Romania, 393 cases; Russia [Volgograd], 942 cases; United States, 62 cases in 1999 and 21 in 2000; Israel, 2 cases in 1999 and 417 in 2000); and 3) high avian death rates accompanying the human outbreaks, in outbreaks in Israel and the United States”(3).
Approximate Word count = 2198
Approximate Pages = 8.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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