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Article: DEAD BIRDS SPREAD THE VIRAL ALARM AS WEST NILE ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS BLANKETS NORTH AMERICA, AUTHORS SEEK TO DISARM IMMUNE ATTACKS.
- Article from:
- BIOWORLD Today
- Article date:
- January 31, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: David N. Leff , Science Editor
When it starts raining crows and jaybirds instead of cats and dogs, it's high time to start thinking West Nile virus (WNV).
This East African, mosquito-borne, bird-transmitted, human-targeting pathogen landed suddenly on the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. late in 1999. The West Nile virus' first prey consisted of seven American victims in New York City. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 16, 1999, p. 1.)
"Birds are the natural reservoir for this virus," explained virologist/immunologist Michael Diamond of Washington University in St. Louis. "The cycle of nature is mosquito to bird. When humans get infected it's ...