User:Mblan45/sandbox/Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus

Venezuelan equine encephalitis outbreaks
In the Americas, there has been 21 reported outbreaks of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus. Outbreaks of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus occurred in Central American and South American countries. This virus was isolated in 1938, and outbreaks have been reported in many different countries since then. Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and the United States are just some of the countries that have reported outbreaks.

Outbreaks of VEEV generally occur after periods of heavy precipitation that cause mosquito populations to thrive .

Between December 1992 and January 1993, the Venezuelan state of Trujillo experienced an outbreak of this virus. Overall, 28 cases of the disease were reported along with 12 deaths. June 1993 saw a bigger outbreak, as 55 humans died as well as 66 equine deaths.

A much larger outbreak in Venezuela and Colombia occurred in 1995. On May 23, 1995, equine encephalitis-like cases were reported in the northwest portion of the country. Eventually, the outbreak spread more towards the north as well as to the south. The outbreak caused about 11,390 febrile cases in humans as well as 16 deaths. About 500 equine cases were reported with 475 deaths.

An outbreak of this disease occurred on Colombia in September 1995. This outbreak resulted in 14,156 human cases that were attributable to Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus with 26 human deaths. A possible explanation for the serious outbreaks was the particularly heavy rain that had fallen. This could have caused increased numbers of mosquitoes that could serve as vectors for the disease. A more likely explanation is that deforestation caused a change in mosquito species. Culex taenopius mosquitos, which prefer rodents, were replaced by Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus mosquitos, which are more likely to bite humans and large equines.

Currently treatment of VEEV infection is mostly supportive because there are no specific drugs for alphaviruses. This has been moved to the vaccine section where it is more relevant.

'''Though the majority of VEEV outbreaks occur in Central and South America, the virus has the potential to outbreak again in the United States. It has been shown the invasive mosquito species Aedes albopictus is a viable carrier of VEEV .'''

Vaccine
'''There is a vaccine containing the C-84 strain for VEEV that is used to immunize horses. Another vaccine containing the TC-83 strain is only used in humans in military and laboratory positions that risk contracting the virus. The human vaccine can result in side effects and does not fully immunize the patient. The TC-83 strain is generated by passing the virus 83 times through the heart cells of a guinea pig. C-84 is a derivative of TC-83''' '.'

Currently treatment of VEEV infection is mostly supportive because there are no specific drugs for alphaviruses

There is currently a vaccine available for both humans and horses. The live attenuated vaccine known as TC-83 is a strain of VEEV that was passed 83 times in guinea pig heart cells. There is also an inactivated form of the vaccine known as C-84 derived from the TC-83 strain. Currently only the C-84 vaccine is licensed for use in horses in the U.S. although countries such as Mexico and Colombia still produce the live vaccine for horses.

In the U.S., only at risk military and laboratory personnel are vaccinated with the TC-83 strain and some receive C-84 boosters if initial vaccination did not produce sufficient immunity. The vaccine does have side effects that ranged from mild to moderate and did not provide full protection of nonhuman primates challenged by aerosol exposure the route of transmission most likely if VEEV were to be used in a biological terrorist attack. This passage was directly plagiarized from a website () ''that references the slobodan article. The section has been reworded and the website has been cited. Even though the website is only a wiki, it uses scientific sources and is likely reliable.''

''This section of the article was checked for plagiarism. Some sources were found (Beran, Acha,Slobodan), but other claims are in need of proper citation (indicated by the citation needed message within the text).''