In 1999, officials reported the first cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) in North America in eight New York City patients. Baxter Healthcare scientist Thomas Kreil realized that sera from infected patients might protect others by passive immunization. The map above, adapted from the CDC, shows how quickly the virus spread west over the next four years. Human cases, usually asymptomatic, followed reports of animal infections. Serum pools collected from areas with high infection rates would have more anti-WNV antibodies. Read more about Kreil's experiments to test his hypothesis in this month's issue.
Passive immunization and West Nile Virus
var FO = { movie:"https://images.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/53924/53924.swf", width:"520", height:"410", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Passive immunization and West Nile Virus By Edyta Zielinska In 1999, officials reported the first cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) in North America in eight New York City patients. Baxter Healthcare scientist Thomas Kreil realized that sera from infected patients might prote
Written byEdyta Zielinska
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Meet the Author
Edyta Zielinska was a senior editor at The Scientist from 2007 to 2013, where she worked closely with scientific illustrators to develop accompanying graphics to illuminate complex concepts.
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