West nile
virus
That is the West Nile Virus?
The West Nile virus surfaced in Africa in the late 1930s.
Since then, it has spread through Asia, Europe, the Middle
East,
and North and South America.
It was in 1999 in the Western Hemisphere that the West Nile
virus was discovered again and then spread across North
America and into Canada and Mexico.
The risk of contracting the West Nile virus is low with
less than 1% of those infected developing a serious illness.
Most
people infected with the virus have no symptoms or they
have flu-like symptoms. But some patients develop severe
infections
resulting in neurological disease and even death.
The people
at most risk of developing a serious illness from the
West Nile virus are the elderly and those with low immune
systems.
The West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes which transmit
the virus after becoming infected by feeding on the blood
of birds which carry the virus. This can then be transferred
it to humans, horses and other animals.
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