West Nile Virus
west nile virus is a virus of the family "flaviviridae" !!!
how does the virus affect us
the virus affect humans in three ways:
-asymptotic infection,which means that the patient does not experience any noticable symptoms ,and the disease might not be discovered until the patient undergoes medical tests
-fever
-meningitis or encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain)
how is the virus transmitted
the virus is transmitted through mosquito vectors,which bite and infect birds.the birds amplyfying hosts,developing sufficient viral levels to transmit the infection to other biting mosquitoes which go on to infect other birds and also humans.
mammals do not further transmit the virus .
we can devide mosquitoes that are transmitting the virus into two groups:
-one bites birds
-one bites humans
where can we find the virus
the virus has been described in:
-africa
-europe
-middle east
-asia
-oceania
and most recently in NORTH AMERICA
how can we control the virus
to control the virus we have to control the mosquitoes by eluminating the mosquito breeding sites,so the mosquitoes are not able to reproduce and sooner or later they will becme extinct.
but also the people have to take control by spending less time outside,wearing long covering clothing,and applying bug repellent that contains "DEET"(an insect repellent chemical),and ensuring that mosquitoes cannot enter buildings.
how does the body defend itself
if the body is infected with"west nile virus",it defends itself most likely with a fever,wich means that the body increases its temperature to levels that are above normal(higher than 36.8 celsius)
treatments of vaccines
there is no specific treatment for west nile virus infection.
intensive supportive therapy is directed toward the complication of brain infection.
there is no specific antiobiotic for the infection.
there is also no vaccine to prevent the virus.
some interesting facts
-risk of infection is highest during mosquito season(late summer&early fall)
-virus broke out in new york,1999
-virus can also be transmitted by ticks
-there is a vaccine for infected horses
-the virus came to canada in 2002
by Friederike Schmischke
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