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What
is Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis?
How do
people become infected with VEE virus?
What causes VEE?
Where is VEE found?
Why are we concerned about VEE as a biological weapon?
Who is at risk
for developing VEE?
What are the
signs and symptoms of VEE?
How soon
after exposure do symptoms appear?
How is VEE diagnosed?
Is there treatment for
VEE?
Is there a vaccine for
VEE?
What
is Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis?
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE) is a mosquito-borne viral
disease. It is common in South America, Trinidad, Central
America, Mexico, and Florida.
How do
people become infected with VEE virus?
VEE
virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected
mosquito. Horses can also become infected with, and die from,
VEE virus infection. There is no evidence that VEE has
been directly transmitted from person-to-person.
What causes VEE?
VEE is
caused by a virus that is a member of the family
Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus. It is closely
related to Eastern and Western equine encephalitis viruses.
Where is VEE found?
VEE is
found in northern South America (Colombia, Peru, Brazil,
Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname) and Trinidad.
It also causes rare cases of human encephalitis in Central
America, Mexico, and Florida.
Why are we concerned about VEE as a biological weapon?
VEE
could possibly be used as a biological weapon. The virus
is stable in the environment and can survive the storage and
manipulation procedures necessary for making it into a weapon.
Since it may take no more that 10-100 organisms to cause
disease, it is considered to be a potentially effective
bioterrorism weapon.
Who is at risk for
developing VEE?
Anyone
can get VEE, but those at increased risk of developing severe
disease include young children and older adults.
Pregnant women may also develop complications.
What are the
signs and symptoms of VEE?
Most VEE
infections are mild with only a small percentage of the
infected population developing encephalitis. Persons with the
mild form of illness may describe only minimal flu-like
symptoms of low-grade fever, muscular pain, or headache.
Patients with moderate disease may experience fever, chills,
muscle pain, back pain, headache, sensitivity to light,
vomiting, and sore throat. Among severe cases symptoms
include a sudden high fever, severe muscle and back pain,
headache, sensitivity to light, vomiting, weakness,
exhaustion, and confusion. Though rare, seizures,
paralysis, tremors, coma, and severe encephalitis can also
occur.
How soon
after exposure do symptoms appear?
Symptoms
usually appear in 2 to 6 days after the bite of an infected
mosquito.
How is VEE diagnosed?
VEE is
often diagnosed based on symptoms and travel history.
Blood samples to test for the virus are used to confirm the
diagnosis.
Is there treatment for
VEE?
No
specific treatment other than supportive care is available.
Is there a vaccine for
VEE?
Although
two vaccines are being developed and tested, there is
currently no licensed vaccine for human use.
For more
information call (602) 364-3289 |
