How common is the west nile virus

It is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Cases of WNV occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall. There are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people. Fortunately, most people infected with WNV do not feel sick. About 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. About 1 out of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness.

You can reduce your risk of WNV by using insect repellent and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants to prevent mosquito bites. Figure 1. Figure 2. Retinal Vasculitis Retinal vascular involvement can occur in association with WNVI and may cause retinal hemorrhages, retinal vascular sheathing Figure 2 A , and in the most severe cases occlusive retinal vasculitis [ 25 , 26 ].

Other Ocular Manifestations Kutchey et al. Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis There are currently no published diagnostic techniques that can be applied specifically to the ocular fluids in WNVI. Prognosis and Management Ocular disease associated with WNVI is usually self-limiting, and most patients recover their baseline visual acuity.

Management There is, at present, no proven specific treatment or efficient vaccine for WNVI in humans [ 35 ]. Future Directions Although multiple drug and vaccine candidates have shown promising results in preclinical or early clinical development, there are currently no drugs or vaccines being tested against WNVI in clinical trials. Conclusions To summarize, WNVI-associated ocular manifestations are features of severe neuroinvasive cases. Author Contributions A. Funding This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. References 1. Khairallah M. Novel infectious agents causing uveitis. Hasbun R. Debiasi R. West Nile virus meningoencephalitis. Troupin A. Methods Mol. A prospective evaluation of factors associated with chorioretinitis in patients with West Nile virus infection. Patel S. Arthropod vector-borne uveitis in the developing world. Linear pattern of West Nile virus-associated chorioretinitis is related to retinal nerve fibres organization.

Singh S. Cinatl J. West Nile virus infection induces interferon signalling in human retinal pigment epithelial cells. Liu W. Analysis of adaptive mutations in Kunjin virus replicon RNA reveals a novel role for the flavivirus nonstructural protein NS2A in inhibition of beta interferon promoter-driven transcription.

Munoz-Erazo L. Microarray analysis of gene expression in West Nile virus-infected human retinal pigment epithelium. Garg S. Systemic and intraocular manifestations of West Nile virus infection. Stonedahl S. Alpert S. Intrauterine West Nile virus: Ocular and systemic findings. Chorioretinal involvement in patients with West Nile virus infection. Sivakumar R. Molecular diagnosis and ocular imaging of West Nile virus retinitis and neuroretinitis. Merle H. Ocular manifestations of emerging arboviruses: Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Zika virus, West Nile virus, and yellow fever.

Chan C. Ocular features of west nile virus infection in North America: A study of 14 eyes. Bains H. Vitritis and chorioretinitis in a patient with West Nile virus infection. Indocyanine green angiographic features in multifocal chorioretinitis associated with West Nile virus infection.

Learned D. Multimodal imaging of west nile virus chorioretinitis. Ophthalmic Surg. Lasers Imaging Retin. Gohari A. West nile virus occlusive retinal vasculitis. Cases Brief Rep. Ischemic and hemorrhagic retinal vasculitis associated with West Nile virus infection. Kuchtey R. Uveitis associated with West Nile virus infection. Arch Ophthalmol. Anninger W. Dahal U. West Nile virus infection and diplopia: A case report and review of literature.

Miller A. Diplopia: A focal neurologic presentation of West Nile meningoencephalitis. Alshekhlee A. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate.

Minus Related Pages. CDC Disease Maps. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.