Eight years ago, a mysterious virus hit New York City. It caused encephalitis in eight patients at Flushing Hospital in Queens, who all lived within a two-mile radius of each other. After some confusion about the origin of the virus, researchers soon realized that these were, in fact, the first reported cases of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America.
In the following years, the virus rapidly spread west, with human infections following in areas where animal infections were reported the year before. In 2002, the epidemic soared to 4,156 cases nationwide, from a mere 66 the year before. Reports started to come in of infections that were spread by blood transfusions from subclinically infected people. Baxter Scientific, a healthcare products company, conducted a study to ensure that its plasma products weren't also contaminated with WNV.
Thomas Kreil and his colleagues at Baxter led that study and gathered the intravenous ...
