WNV (West Nile Virus) test to quell health officials' concerns:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The availability of an assay for West Nile Virus, an RNA flavivirus spread by mosquitoes among mammals, could do much to quell concerns over the growing problem and spread of the virus. Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the virus, which causes meningoencephalitis, inflaming the spinal cord and brain, killed seven people among 62 recorded cases in 1999. It has struck in temperate North American and European zones, threatening public and animal health. The new virus assay, from American Medical Laboratories, of Chantilly, Virginia, is done by realtime PCR, said to be the most rapid and sensitive methodology available.