The virellaWNV real time RT-PCR Kit is an assay for the detection of West Nile Virus (Lineage 1 and 2), extracted from biological specimens.
2 Pathogen Information
West Nile virus infection is an arthropod-borne zoonosis that is endemoepidemic in Europe. The disease affects countries in Southern, Eastern and Western Europe. WNV is transmitted among birds via the bite of infected mosquitoes and ticks and incidentally humans and other mammals may become infected. About 80 % of WNV infections in humans are asymptomatic. West Nile fever (WNF) is the most common clinical manifestation. The elderly and immunocompromised persons are at higher risk of developing West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND). No specific prophylaxis or treatment exist against the disease in humans. WNF is characterised by a sudden onset of symptoms that may include headache, malaise, fever, myalgia, vomiting, rash, fatigue and eye pain. Symptom severity ranges from a mild self-limiting illness from which patients recover within one week to a protracted debilitating disease that can last for months. WNND involves symptoms that affect the central nervous system. These can be categorised clinically as meningitis, encephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis or a combination of the three. Risk factors include advanced age, malignancies disrupting the blood–brain barrier, hypertension, hematologic disorders, diabetes mellitus, renal disease, alcohol abuse and genetic factors.
The case fatality ratio among patients with WNND can be up to 17 %