What is West Nile Fever?

About West Nile virus: 

• West Nile Virus (WNV) is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the family Flaviviridae.
• It was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937.
• It is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it typically spikes between the summer and autumn months of June and September.
• Transmission: Human infection is most often the result of bites from infected mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days. 
• The virus may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues.
• Symptoms:
  • Infection with WNV is either asymptomatic (no symptoms) in around 80% of infected people, or can lead to West Nile fever or severe West Nile disease.
  • About 20% of people who become infected with WNV will develop West Nile fever and symptoms include fever, headache, and tiredness, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, occasionally with a skin rash.
• So far, 19 countries, including Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Türkiye and Kosovo have reported outbreaks.
• Treatment: No vaccine is available for WNV and only supportive treatments can be provided to neuroinvasive WNV patients.

Q1: What are Viruses?

These are parasitic entities lacking cells, making them unclassifiable within any specific kingdom. They are sub-microscopic infectious agents that can only replicate inside host cells of living organisms. They range from 20 to 400 nm and can infect all life forms – humans, animals, plants, bacteria.

Source:  Deadly West Nile virus spreads across Ukraine, 11 fatalities since July

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