In the first ten years since the virus arrived in the U.S., over 1,100 deaths occurred with human cases reported from every U.S. state except Maine, Alaska and ...WestNilevirusintheUnitedStatesFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchUSGSmapoftheUnitedStatesshowingreportedcasesofWestNilevirusinfectionbycountyin2012.Cumulativetotaloftheentirecountry:1,590cases.(CurrentasofAug28,2012).[1]U.S.WestNilevirus(WNV)neuroinvasivediseaseincidenceasofSep4,2012TheWestNilevirusquicklyspreadacrosstheUnitedStatesafterthefirstreportedcasesinQueens,NewYorkin1999.Thevirusisbelievedtohaveenteredinaninfectedbirdormosquito,althoughthereisnoclearevidence.Thediseasespreadquicklythroughinfectedbirds.Mosquitoesspreadthediseasetomammals.Itwasmainlynotedinhorsesbutalsoappearedinanumberofotherspecies.Thefirsthumancasesusuallyfollowedwithinthreemonthsofthefirstappearanceofinfectedbirdsintheareaexceptwherecoldweatherinterruptedthemosquitovectors.SincethevirushasbecomewidelyestablishedintheU.S.,anaverageof130deathsayearoccurred.Differencesinsurveillanceandreportingbetweenhealthdepartmentsandgenerallyincreasedsurveillanceasthediseasespreadcausesomeproblemsindirectcomparisonofthenumberofcasesandthemortalityrate.Thereportednumberofinfectedin2009was720,buttheestimatedtotalnumberofinfectedthesameyearwas54,000.[2]Thetruemortalityrateisthoughttobemuchlowerbecausemostcasesaresomildtheygoundiagnosed.Someestimatesputseverecasesatonly1%ofallcases.ItisbelievedthattheelderlyorpeoplewithweakimmunesystemsaremostvulnerabletoseriousillnessordeathifbittenbyamosquitoinfectedbyWestNile.[3][unreliablemedicalsource?]Mostbutnotallmildcasesgoundiagnosed.Inaddition,somemoreseverebutnon-neuroinvasivecasesarenotreportedtotheCDC.Somemildcasesarediscoveredduringblooddonationscreening.1,039WestNile-taintedblooddonationswerediscoveredbetween2003andmid-2005.30casesofWestNilefrombloodtransfusionwereknown,themajorityfrom2002beforebloodscreeningwasinstituted.InthefirsttenyearssincethevirusarrivedintheU.S.,over1