West Nile Virus

The West Nile virus is an RNA virus. It is distributed through mosquito bites and belongs to the genus Flavivirus, which is from the family Flaviviridae. It is found in regions that are either temperate or tropical and was first identified in Uganda, East Africa in 1937. It is an enveloped virus (Wang 2001). The major diseases which are caused by the family Flaviviridae are Hepatitis C, Yellow Fever, various forms of encephalitis, Kyasanur Forest disease, Dengue fever, and the West Nile virus itself—which is actually another form of the many types of encephalitis. 

The West Nile virus symptoms can display any time between 2 days to 2 weeks from the time of infection. Although headaches are a frequent symptom of the West Nile virus, it is also a symptom common to many other ailments so is not a good diagnostic symptom 

Most people infected with West Nile virus (80%) don’t present with any symptoms at all. Some infected people (20%) suffer from fever, headache, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach, and back. These symptoms can last from 2 days to several weeks. And a very few infected people (less than 1%) can develop high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis; with symptoms lasting for several weeks and possibly permanent neurological damage (“West Nile Virus: What You Need to Know” 2012). While the West Nile virus is lethal, fewer than 1% of reported people who contracted the disease have died from it (Townsend 2012).

The public health concern for the West Nile virus is the reducing of mosquito populations. Therefore the time of year and proximity to mosquito breeding grounds are risk factors the public should be aware of in avoiding West Nile. Community-based mosquito control can be enacted to further help prevent the spread of West Nile. While it may be present in California, it is more common in places such as Texas or Louisiana due to temperature and moisture zones (“West Nile Virus: What You Need to Know” 2012). West Nile is more likely to be present in Africa than in Europe because of the temperature difference. There are also larger rivers and marshlands in Africa as compared to Europe and America, and there are fewer mosquito control programs, so West Nile is more of a concern there. Of course, this may not be the case in the future. Climate change has already had a devastating effect on allegedly predictable weather patterns around the globe. Areas “immune” to West Nile due to incongruent humidity or temperature ranges should keep an eye out in case their circumstances change. If they are prepared in this way, fast action can be taken in order to ensure fewer infections (Pandve).

References

Pandve, H.T.. (2008). Emerging public health issues due to climate change. Indian Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine, 12(3), 142.

Townsend, L. (2012). 2012 West Nile Virus outbreak: How deadly is it? BlackDoctor.org. Retrieved from: http://blackdoctor.org/12596/how-deadly-is-west-nile-virus-2012/

Wang, T. & Anderson, J.F., Magnarelli L.A., Buschmich, S., Wong, S., Koski R.A., Fikrig, E. (2001). West Nile Virus envelop protein: Role in diagnosis and immunity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 951, 325-7. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11797789

West Nile Virus: What you need to know. (2013). CDC.gov. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm