Origin of the West Nile Virus Responsible for an Outbreak of Encephalitis in the Northeastern United States
Abstract
In late summer 1999, an outbreak of human encephalitis occurred in the northeastern United States that was concurrent with extensive mortality in crows ( Corvus species) as well as the deaths of several exotic birds at a zoological park in the same area. Complete genome sequencing of a flavivirus isolated from the brain of a dead Chilean flamingo ( Phoenicopterus chilensis ), together with partial sequence analysis of envelope glycoprotein (E-glycoprotein) genes amplified from several other species including mosquitoes and two fatal human cases, revealed that West Nile (WN) virus circulated in natural transmission cycles and was responsible for the human disease. Antigenic mapping with E-glycoprotein–specific monoclonal antibodies and E-glycoprotein phylogenetic analysis confirmed these viruses as WN. This North American WN virus was most closely related to a WN virus isolated from a dead goose in Israel in 1998.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 17, 1999
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.286.5448.2333
Entities
People
- B. Crise
- B. Panigrahy
- B. Schmitt
- C. B. Cropp
- C. Banet
- D. J. Gubler
- E. Ostlund
- H. M. Savage
- J. Cole Smith
- J. H. Scherret
- J. S. Mackenzie
- J. T. Roehrig
- J. Weissman
- K. E. Volpe
- K. Steele
- M. B. Crabtree
- M. Malkinson
- M. Parker
- N. Komar
- R. A. Hall
- R. S. Lanciotti
- T. Mcnamara
- V. Deubel
- W. Stone
Organizations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Veterinary Services Laboratory
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- Pasteur Institute
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
- University of Queensland
- Wildlife Conservation Society