Viruses, Plagues, and History by Michael B. A. Oldstone

Author:Michael B. A. Oldstone
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2020-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

West Nile Virus: Deaths of Crows and Humans

Only in 1999 did West Nile virus make its appearance in North America, and the target struck was New York City. West Nile virus has continued to plague the United States with over 45,000 documented cases and nearly 2,000 deaths by 2016.1 This chapter tells of the detective work that identified this virus as the cause of a formerly unknown disease whose path through America was a trail of dead birds and dead people. The initial concern and later panic embodied the possibility that this country was witnessing its first bioterrorist attack, one that threatened to overshadow even the events of 9/11/2001. In just a few years, West Nile virus and the disease it caused spread geographically south, north, and west from New York City to 49 states and the District of Columbia (Figure 14.1). By early 2008, this disease had been identified in over 28,000 individuals, of whom one-third suffered inflammation/infection of the brain (encephalitis) or cells lining the brain (leptomeningitis) and about 4% died from the infection.2–6 Not relenting in 2018, 2,544 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with 1,594 (63%) involving the brain and 950 (37%) without brain involvement.1 West Nile virus is currently the most common and severe form of mosquito-borne encephalitis in North America.

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