[realpatriot71]

Did west nile virus get here because we stupidly imported people or animals from Africa who had this virus?

There's a slight chance an infected bird caught a ride from Africa to the US, but the most likely explanation is that a, infected mosquito laid egg on a ship in northern africa, and those eggs made the trip to the US, whence they got wet and hatched somewhere along the way.

[rmlew]

It could have been stow-away mosquitos. It could also be that we have immigrants who came to this country with the Virus adn were bitten by the mosquitos.
According to media reports in NYC, the mosquitos are the same types normally found in the US.