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BE
ALERT FOR
WEST NILE
VIRUS
The holiday season is almost upon us and, with the
US
$ at a 20-year low against sterling,
more and more people are heading west to sample the delights
of the
USA
and
Canada
. But today they risk bringing back more with them
than a cut-price souvenir.
West Nile Virus, an encephalitis disease spread by mosquitoes, is
threatening to engulf the whole of the
USA
- and although the virus cycles
mainly between birds and mosquitoes, when man is bitten by an infected
mosquito the disease can be very serious, in some cases resulting
in death. A new information source on the virus and the disease
is now available from Wildlife Information Network (WIN) an international
charity based in the
UK
.
The
disease may present in a variety of ways, from a mild non-specific
illness to severe nervous signs and death.
The elderly and individuals with
suppressed immune systems are particularly susceptible. WN
virus infection may be inapparent or result in a range of signs and
symptoms from classical
West Nile
fever (fever and headache, with or without
rash and/or enlarged lymph nodes, and sometimes other symptoms) to
severe neurological manifestations of meningitis or encephalitis,
sometimes with profound muscle weakness or
acute flaccid paralysis. Other
manifestations, such as hepatitis or respiratory signs, have been
noted occasionally.
West Nile
fever cannot be distinguished clinically from
other viral fevers and WNV meningitis or encephalitis cannot be distinguished
clinically from similar syndromes caused by other viruses.
The new Wildpro encyclopaedic volume "West Nile Virus" has
been published by WIN to aid
recognition, diagnosis and control (including vaccination)
of this disease.
This
volume forms part of a series covering emerging infectious diseases,
and the health and management of wildlife. This volume was produced
in collaboration with the
US
Government's
USGS-National
Wildlife
Health
Center
and is recognised as the definitive
complete information resource on West Nile Virus. It is fully
referenced and peer-reviewed. The Wildpro "West Nile Virus"
volume is available to members of WIN
on the Web-based electronic encyclopaedia through
www.wildlifeinformation.org and on CD-ROM
for off-line and field work.
(22/4/04)
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