Science Reference Guides

SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
West Nile Virus Home Page
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm

West Nile Virus Fact Sheet
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factSheet.htm

Questions & Answers (Can my pets get it? Should I report a dead bird?)
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/q&a.htm

Maps and Data
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control.htm

Entomology: Which mosquito species carry WNV?
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/mosquitospecies.htm

Vertebrate Ecology: Which bird species carry WNV?
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/birdspecies.htm

Links to Related Sites (Federal, State & Local, Academic, Professional, Non- governmental, International)
   URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/links.htm

MedlinePlus (Overviews, Latest News, Research, etc., from the National Library of Medicine)
   URL: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/westnilevirus.html

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Mosquito Quiz
   URL: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/vector/Pages/MosquitoQuiz.aspx

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SELECTED ARTICLES

Christopher, Dean. 20 things you didn’t know about...mosquitoes. Discover magazine, v. 28, no. 8, August 2007: 80.
   Find online–go to URL: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/aug

Hall, Stephen S. On the trail of the West Nile virus. Smithsonian magazine, v. 14, no. 4, July 2003: 88-102.
   Direct link online-URL: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/westnile.html

Kilpatrick, A. Marm, and others. West Nile virus epidemics in North America are driven by shifts in mosquito feeding behavior. PloS biology, v. 4, April 2006: 0606-0610.
   Find online–go to URL: http://www.plosbiology.org/home.action

Soverow, Jonathan E., and others. Infectious disease in a warming world: how weather influenced West Nile virus in the United States (2001-2005). Environmental health perspectives, v. 117, no. 7, July 2009: 1049-1052.
   Find online–go to URL: http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/home.action

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SELECTED BOOKS

Despommier, Dickson. West Nile story: a new virus in the New World. New York, Apple Trees Productions, c2001. 134 p.
   Bibliography: p.106-113.
   RA644.W47D47 2001

Sfakianos, Jeffrey N. West Nile virus. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Chelsea House Publishers, c2009. 108 p.
   Series: Deadly diseases and epidemics (juvenile literature).
   Bibliography: p. 98-102.
   RA644.W47S46 2009

West Nile encephalitis virus infection: viral pathogenesis and the host immune response. Edited by Michael S. Diamond. New York, Springer, c2009. 485 p.
   Series: Emerging infectious diseases of the 21st century.
   Includes bibliographical references.
   RA644.W47W474 2009

Zimmer, Carl. A planet of viruses. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, c2011. 109 p.
   See: Becoming an American: West Nile virus. p. 65-70.
   Bibliography: p. 97-101.
   QR360.Z65 2011
Essay reprinted in the online Discover magazine’s blog by Zimmer, “The Loom.” URL: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2012/08/17/west-nile-virus-the-stranger-that-came-to-stay/

A dorsal view of a Culex pipiens mosquito

The C. pipiens mosquito is a known vector for the West Nile flavivirus. When a person is infected with West Nile virus, the most serious form of the ensuing illness is termed “neuroinvasive disease”, because it affects a person’s nervous system. Specific types of neuroinvasive disease include West Nile encephalitis, West Nile meningitis, or West Nile meningoencephalitis. Encephalitis refers to an inflammation of the brain; meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord; meningoencephalitis refers to an inflammation of both the brain, spinal cord, as well as the membranes surrounding these structures. Credit: Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website.

Compiled by Stephanie Marcus
August 2012