West Nile Virus: Epidemiology and Clinical Features of an Emerging Epidemic in the United States*

West Nile virus (WNV) was first detected in North America in 1999 during an outbreak of encephalitis in New York City. Since then the virus has spread across North America and into Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The largest epidemics of neuroinvasive WNV disease ever reported occurred in the United States in 2002 and 2003. This paper reviews new information on the epidemiology and clinical aspects of WNV disease derived from greatly expanded surveillance and research on WNV during the past six years.