West Nile Virus

Deaths from West Nile virus hit record last year

U.S. health officials say last year was the worst ever for West Nile virus deaths.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 13, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Mosquito survey identifies reservoir of disease

A large scale, five year study of mosquitoes from different ecological regions in Kenya, including savannah grassland, semi-arid Acacia thorn bushes, and mangrove swamps, found a reservoir of viruses carried by mosquitoes ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Europe's financial crisis leads to suicide surge

The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession—they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 26, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Some brain cells are better virus fighters

(Medical Xpress)—Viruses often spread through the brain in patchwork patterns, infecting some cells but missing others. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helps explain ...

Medical research created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

West Nile virus passes from female to eggs, but less so from larvae to adults

In California Culex mosquitoes are considered to be the principle vectors of West Nile virus (WNV), which infects birds, humans, and other mammals during the summer. In addition, these mosquitoes may also serve as overwintering ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Mar 05, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Forensic pathology: Tracing the origin of the Usutu Virus

It is generally a mystery how new diseases arise and how the pathogens that cause them first enter countries. However, clues may come from examination of specimens from similar outbreaks. Scientists at the University of ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Feb 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Spanish researchers design biomarkers for the detection of dengue and West Nile virus

Researchers at the University of Granada have designed a set of biomarkers that can be used in diagnostic tests for the detection of dengue and the West Nile virus, two infectious diseases transmitted by ...

Medical research created Feb 06, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Peptide found to induce autophagy resulting in defense against diseases

(Medical Xpress)—A multi-disciplined team of researchers from the United States and The Netherlands has found that introducing a certain type of peptide into mice cells induces autophagy, which in turn helps in fighting ...

Medical research created Jan 31, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Researchers see more West Nile virus in orchards and vineyards

Washington State University researchers have linked orchards and vineyards with a greater prevalence of West Nile virus in mosquitoes and the insects' ability to spread the virus to birds, horses and people.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Jan 30, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Candidate dengue vaccine shows promise in early-stage trial

A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Jan 23, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Survival of 'Obamacare' tops list of biggest health news in 2012

(HealthDay)—With millions of Americans watching and waiting, the U.S. Supreme Court largely upheld the Obama Administration's health care reform legislation, making the survival of "Obamacare" this year's ...

Other created Dec 28, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenge

Human activities are advancing the spread of vector-borne, zoonotic diseases such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease and dengue fever, report scientists publishing a series of papers today in the journal The ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Latest West Nile tally: 5,245 cases, 236 deaths

(HealthDay)—The West Nile virus outbreak has now reached 5,245 cases, including 236 deaths, U.S. health officials reported Wednesday.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 28, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hepatitis C treatment's side effects can now be studied in the lab

(Medical Xpress)—The adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes, thanks to a research team led by Craig Cameron, the Paul Berg ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 16, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Did wild birds cause the 2010 deadly West Nile virus outbreak in Greece?

In 2010, 35 people in Greece died from a West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak, with a further 262 laboratory-confirmed human cases. A new article published in BioMedCentral's open access journal Virology Journal examines whethe ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic rabbits, crows, robins, crocodiles and alligators. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito. Approximately 90% of West Nile Virus infections in humans are without any symptoms.

Image reconstructions and cryoelectron microscopy reveal a 45–50 nm virion covered with a relatively smooth protein surface. This structure is similar to the dengue fever virus; both belong to the genus Flavivirus within the family Flaviviridae. The genetic material of WNV is a positive-sense, single strand of RNA, which is between 11,000 and 12,000 nucleotides long; these genes encode seven non-structural proteins and three structural proteins. The RNA strand is held within a nucleocapsid formed from 12 kDa protein blocks; the capsid is contained within a host-derived membrane altered by two viral glycoproteins.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Latest Spotlight News

The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells 'mortal'

New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...

Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?

Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...

Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...

Practice makes perfect? Not so much

Turns out, that old "practice makes perfect" adage may be overblown. New research led by Michigan State University's Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people ...

Older prostate cancer patients should think twice before undergoing treatment

Older prostate cancer patients with other underlying health conditions should think twice before committing to surgery or radiation therapy for their cancer, according to a multicenter study led by researchers in the UCLA ...

New test better detects elephantiasis worm infection

A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that can lead to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the currently used test, according to results of a field ...

Researchers develop model for better testing, targeting of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, in partnership with the University's Brain Tumor Program, have developed a new mouse model of malignant peripheral ...

Study shows how bilinguals switch between languages

(Medical Xpress)—Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.

New immune system discovered

(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.

Neurons that can multitask greatly enhance the brain's computational power, study finds

Over the past few decades, neuroscientists have made much progress in mapping the brain by deciphering the functions of individual neurons that perform very specific tasks, such as recognizing the location ...