Kerala’s health department has reported West Nile fever cases in three districts namely; Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thrissur.
West Nile Virus (WNV)
- The West Nile Virus (WNV) was detected for the first time in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937. In Kerala, it was first detected in 2011.
- The West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus. It is a flavivirus and is related to the viruses that cause Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.
- The West Nile Virus transmission takes place via mosquito bites. Birds are considered the natural hosts of the virus on whom mosquitoes prey and become infected.
- The virus doesn’t spread through human-to-human contact. WNV can also spread through blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
- It is not known to spread by contact with infected humans or animals.
- According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it does not spread through eating infected animals, including birds.
- The disease is asymptomatic in 80% of the infected people. The rest develop what is called the West Nile fever or severe West Nile disease.
- No West Nile Virus-specific prophylaxis, treatment or vaccine is available.
