West Nile Virus- some basic information--

various links | 09-07-02 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"The old-fashioned term for these diseases used to be sleeping-sickness."

I didn't know that. Is this what used to devastate the cattle herds in southern Africa?

Michael Frazier

[curmudgeonII]

"Sleeping sickness" is caused by two drastically different types of microorganisms.

What we are familiar with in this country, and elsewhere, are caused by a number of closely related viruses - Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Western Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis Equine Encephalitis, and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis and now [I believe] West Nile Fever. The term Equine was used as horses can get this disease. It was originally thought that these diseases spread to man from horse, which is not true.

In Africa there is a "sleeping sickness" which is caused by a single celled animal [Protozoan] - I think a trypanosome.

Same name, different causes.

[curmudgeonII]

"Sleeping sickness" is caused by two drastically different types of microorganisms.

What we are familiar with in this country, and elsewhere, are caused by a number of closely related viruses - Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Western Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis Equine Encephalitis, and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis and now [I believe] West Nile Fever. The term Equine was used as horses can get this disease. It was originally thought that these diseases spread to man from horse, which is not true.

In Africa there is a "sleeping sickness" which is caused by a single celled animal [Protozoan] - I think a trypanosome.

Same name, different causes.

[brazzaville]

Good morning.

Thanks for the reply.

Michael Frazier