How do people get West Nile encephalitis?
A. By the bite of a mosquito (primarily one of the Culex species) that is infected with West Nile virus. Q. What is the basic transmission cycle? A. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which may circulate the virus in their blood for a few days. After an incubation period of 10 days to 2 weeks, infected mosquitoes can then transmit West Nile virus to humans and animals while biting to take blood. The virus is located in the mosquito’s salivary glands. During blood feeding, the virus is may be injected into the animal or human, where it may multiply, possibly causing illness.
