Vaccine Technologies Unit, Fraunhofer Institute of Cell Therapy and Immunology, Leipzig, Germany. Sebastian.ulbert @ izi.fraunhofer.de
Intervirology. 2011;54(4):171-84. doi: 10.1159/000328320. Epub 2011 May 16.
West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic virus that circulates in birds and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Incidentally, humans, horses and other mammals can also be infected. Disease symptoms caused by WNV range from fever to neurological complications, such as encephalitis or meningitis. Mortality is observed mostly in older and immunocompromised individuals. In recent years, epidemics caused by WNV in humans and horses have become more frequent in several Southern European countries, such as Italy and Greece. In 1999, WNV was introduced into the USA and spread over North America within a couple of years. The increasing number of WNV outbreaks is associated with the emergence of novel viral strains, which display higher virulence and greater epidemic potential for humans. Upon infection with WNV, the mammalian immune system counteracts the virus at several different levels. On the other side, WNV has developed elaborated escape mechanisms to avoid its elimination. This review summarizes recent findings in WNV research that help to understand the complex biology associated with this emerging pathogen.
西尼罗河病毒（WNV）是一种在鸟类中循环并通过蚊子传播的人畜共患病毒。偶然的是，人类、马和其他哺乳动物也可能被感染。WNV 引起的疾病症状从发热到神经并发症，如脑炎或脑膜炎不等。死亡率主要见于老年人和免疫功能低下者。近年来，意大利和希腊等几个南欧国家的人类和马群中由 WNV 引起的流行更加频繁。1999 年，WNV 被引入美国，并在几年内传播到北美。WNV 爆发的增加与新型病毒株的出现有关，这些病毒株对人类的毒力更高，具有更大的流行潜力。哺乳动物的免疫系统在几个不同的水平上对抗 WNV 的感染。另一方面，WNV 已经发展出精细的逃逸机制来避免被清除。这篇综述总结了 WNV 研究的最新发现，有助于理解与这种新兴病原体相关的复杂生物学。
