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Fact Sheet: Western Equine Encephalitis
CLINICAL FEATURES
- Symptoms range from mild flu-like illness to frank encephalitis, coma and death
ETIOLOGIC AGENT
- Western equine encephalitis
virus, member of the family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus.
Closely related to eastern and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses
INCIDENCE
- 639 confirmed cases in the U.S. since 1964
SEQUELAE
- Mild to severe neurologic deficits in survivors
COSTS
- Total case costs range from $21,000 for transiently infected individuals to $3 million
for severely infected individuals
- Insecticide applications can cost as much as $1.4 million depending on the size of area
treated
TRANSMISSION
RISK GROUPS
- Residents of endemic areas and visitors
- Persons with outdoor work and recreational activities
SURVEILLANCE
- National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System
TRENDS
- Epidemic disease that is difficult to predict
- Risk exposure increases as population expands into endemic areas
CHALLENGES
- No licensed vaccine for human use
- No effective therapeutic drug
- Unknown overwintering cycle
- Control measures expensive
- Limited financial support of surveillance and prevention
OPPORTUNITIES
- Mosquito control
- Education of health-care workers and the public
- Integrated State and Federal prevention efforts
- Vaccine development
- Therapeutic development
RESEARCH PRIORITIES
- Improve predictive capabilities
- Develop and evaluate vaccines
- Develop and evaluate therapeutics
- Improve diagnostic and virus detection tests
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