In late July of 2000 the most famous park in the United States, Central Park of New York City, was closed to the public so that it could be sprayed with insecticide to prevent the spread of the West Nile Virus. Parks department workers handed out pamphlets titled Public Health Alert.
West Nile virus had first been noticed in NY the previous summer and fall. Seven people were killed in that early outbreak, and 55 cases of the illness were confirmed. It had not been seen previously in the US. As its name suggests, it is normally found in Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia, as well as in parts of Europe.
1. How is the west nile virus spread?
2.The virus had another vertebrate host besides humans when it showed up in NY. What was it?
3 Can you list some possible mechanisms for how the virus was introduced into the US?
Most infections result in no noticeable symptoms. Some of those infected may develop a skin rash. A fraction of people infected develop life-threa|||West Nile virus is spread by mosquitoes.
The normal host of the disease is birds. Mosquitoes prefer to bite birds but will bite humans when other organisms are not available.
Most likely an infected bird was transported from Africa to the US. It is unlikely to have been brought by a mosquito because the mosquito would have to have taken some blood from a bird in Africa and once it got to the US take some blood from an America.
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