Virus
West Nile virus
Culex flavivirus, neuroinvasive, birds
west NYLE VY-rus
High-yield clue
Culex-transmitted flavivirus with birds as the amplifying reservoir; the classic clue is neuroinvasive disease (encephalitis/meningitis).
Overview
A positive-sense single-stranded RNA flavivirus maintained in a bird reservoir and transmitted to humans by Culex mosquitoes, studied as a leading cause of neuroinvasive arboviral disease.
Classification
- Flaviviridae
- Genus Orthoflavivirus
- Positive-sense ssRNA
- Enveloped
- Arbovirus
Lab & identification clues
- CSF antibody detection vocabulary
- Neuroinvasive disease framing
- Bird die-off surveillance concept
Associations
- Culex mosquito vector
- Birds as amplifying reservoir host
- Neuroinvasive encephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis vocabulary
- Humans and horses as dead-end hosts
Commonly confused with
- Japanese encephalitis virus
- St. Louis encephalitis virus
Your notes
Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.