HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hamilton, P. K. Articles by Taylor, R. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hamilton, P. K. Articles by Taylor, R. M.

Report of Clinical Case of West Nile Virus Infection Probably Acquired in the Laboratory¹

This report describes an infection by West Nile virus in a technician who was working with the virus in the laboratory. Evidence favors the view that the infection was acquired in the laboratory. We have found no record of a similar case in the literature.

The West Nile virus was first isolated in 1937 from the blood of a febrile woman in the West Nile province of Uganda (Smithburn et al., 1940). It was again isolated in 1950 in an Egyptian village north of Cairo (Melnick et al., 1951). The virus when inoculated intracerebrally into Swiss mice produces an encephalitis and is highly fatal.

Southam and Moore (1952) in a study of the effect of the virus on neoplasms, experimentally infected 68 humans with a strain of West Nile virus (Egypt 101). Four patients developed definite signs of diffuse encephalitis and two patients showed transient signs of encephalitis.

¹ The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private ones of the writers and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large.

² Lt. MC, USN, Head, Department of Pathology.

³ Head, Department of Virology; staff member of Division of Medicine and Public Health of the Rockefeller Foundation, assigned to NAMRU-3.