Nedry Melissa, Mahon Connie R
University Medical Center, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Clin Lab Sci. 2003 Winter;16(1):43-9.
West Nile virus is an emerging virus that first appeared in North America during the summer of 1999 in New York City. There were seven deaths associated with this event. Surveillance reports indicate that the virus had been spreading south and west and in 2002, had been reported in 42 states and the District of Columbia. As of September 2002, there were 2121 total human cases reported, induding 104 deaths. The fatality rate for the West Nile virus is very low and the majority of individuals will have no clinical symptoms; however, individuals at most risk for more serious form of the disease are the elderly, the immunocompromised, and young individuals. The virus is spread by certain mosquito species and certain populations of birds serve as the reservoir hosts. Because person-to-person transmission does not occur, humans are therefore considered dead-end hosts. Confirmation of cases West Nile virus infections in humans are determined based on clinical and laboratory findings.
西尼罗河病毒是一种新出现的病毒，1999年夏天首次出现在北美纽约市。此次事件造成7人死亡。监测报告显示，该病毒一直在向南和向西传播，2002年已在42个州和哥伦比亚特区被发现。截至2002年9月，共报告了2121例人类病例，其中包括104例死亡。西尼罗河病毒的致死率很低，大多数人不会出现临床症状；然而，最易感染该疾病更严重形式的人群是老年人、免疫功能低下者和年轻人。该病毒通过某些蚊种传播，某些鸟类种群是储存宿主。由于不会发生人际传播，因此人类被视为终末宿主。西尼罗河病毒感染人类病例的确诊是根据临床和实验室检查结果来确定的。
