West_Nile_Virus

West Nile Virus The West Nile Virus has just recently been affecting the United States. It is an incurable virus that has killed many people in this country already. A close call occurred in Little Rock when a bird carrying the disease was found in the Governor’s backyard. West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord). These can prove to be deadly. West Nile virus is spread to humans by being bitten by an infected mosquito. A mosquito becomes infected by biting a bird that has the virus. As of now, mosquitoes are the only insect known to carry the disease and are the only known way of humans contracting the disease. There have currently been 25 cases of West Nile Virus in Arkansas and no deaths but a total of 3,737 cases in the United States alone and 211 deaths. The state with the most cases was Illinois at 776 cases and 48 deaths. The West Nile Virus is named after the West Nile region of Uganda where the virus was first isolated in 1937. Outbreaks of West virus, west, nile, infected, mosquito, birds, yourself, mosquitoes, disease, protect, people, cases, symptoms, severe, outside, insect, getting, fever, deaths, carrying, bitten, biting, bites, bird, been, wear, united, time, system, stay, states, someone, should, seems, same