Abstract

THE DEVASTATING WEST NILE VIRUS (WNV) AND ITS PREVENTION

Dr. Kishor Dholwani, Dr. Pankaj H. Prajapati, Sandip Sarkar, Sourav Santra, *Dr. Dhrubo Jyoti Sen, Shaktijit Das, Dr. Partha Ranjan Bhattacharya and Dr. Beduin Mahanti

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) is an infectious disease that first appeared in the United States in 1999. Infected mosquitoes spread the virus that causes it. People who get WNV usually have no symptoms or mild symptoms. The symptoms include a fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands. They can last a few days to several weeks, and usually go away on their own. If West Nile virus enters the brain, however, it can be life-threatening. It may cause inflammation of the brain, called encephalitis, or inflammation of the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, called meningitis. A physical exam, medical history, and laboratory tests can diagnose it. West Nile virus was first identified in 1937 in Uganda in eastern Africa. It was first discovered in the United States in the summer of 1999 in New York. Since then, the virus has spread throughout the US. Researchers believe West Nile virus is spread when a mosquito bites an infected bird and then bites a person. West Nile virus (WNV) infection is a mosquito-borne zoonosis that is endemoepidemic in Europe. The disease affects countries in southern, eastern and western Europe. About 2,000 people have died of West Nile virus in the United States since it was first detected in New York City in 1999.

Keywords: arbovirus, disease control, eastern equine encephalitis virus, Lyme disease, predictive model, public health, vector index.