About West Nile Virus, SARS, and Avian Flu Symptoms

Newly emerging microbes are those that recently appear in a population or are rapidly spreading existing microbes. Recently highly publicized infectious diseases include West Nile Virus Infection, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Avian Influenza (bird flu).

West Nile Virus Infection
In mid 1999, a mysterious cluster of encephalitis cases and related deaths appeared in New York City. This raised concern of public health officials and researchers determined the cause of the outbreak as West Nile Virus.

This virus is common in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East, but not seen in North America ~ yet.

Symptoms of West Nile Virus infection are typically mild and include:

If it enters your brain, it has the potential to cause encephalitis or meningitis. These life-threatening complications most often affect the elderly or people with weakened immune systems.

West Nile Virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, which picked up the virus from infected birds. The viral infection may have been introduced into the U.S. by an imported infected bird, an infected mosquito transported in, or an infected person returning from a country where the virus is common.

Since WNV’s first appearance, there have been yearly outbreaks of the disease, spreading across the U.S. Experts believe it has become an established seasonal epidemic, flaring up in the summer through the fall.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
In 2002, a deadly new human pneumonia emerged in southeastern China and caused an epidemic that spread across many Asian countries. It continued its migration across the ocean to Canada and the United States in 2003.

This new disease was named severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

A global research effort rapidly identified the SARS virus as part of the human coronavirus family. Prior to SARS, corona viruses were best known for their role in causing up to 30 percent of the common colds in humans.

The SARS virus is thought to be a rare recombination between avian and mammalian coronaviruses that may have made the jump to humans via animals sold in the food markets of Asian.

Avian Influenza
Since 2003, yet another new microbe has emerged. Although avian influenza usually infects only birds, there have been numerous transmissions to humans, resulting in severe disease or death.

Presently, avian influenza virus is not easily transmitted from human to human. If the virus was to acquire the ability to spread from one human to another, it has the potential to result in a flu pandemic, causing widespread illness, death, and social disruption.

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