The West Nile Virus is not only a fatal disease, it is also highly contagious. Moreover, the virus that its carriers bring are laden with the possible onset of other diseases.

Research was able to trace an outbreak of human encephalitis way back in 1999 around northeastern United States.

Encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain caused by a direct viral infection, is a serious disorder that plagues about two thousand Americans each year.

The outbreak was reported to have caused an extensive mortality in crows. In addition to this, exotic birds in the area were also reported to have been struck down. At that time, the experts had been clueless as to what the culprit behind these unfortunate cases were. But as they continued to conduct further tests, it was revealed that the West Nile Virus was the cause of the deaths.

The results that yielded positive on the West Nile Virus came about through a complete genome sequencing from the brain of a dead Chilean Flamingo and other species including mosquitoes. The tests shed light to the incidence of deaths. It also stated that the West Nile Virus circulated in natural transmission cycles.

This outbreak was closely related to the isolated case of a dead goose in Israel in 1998.

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