Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Viral Encephalitides

  • Chapter
Physician’s Guide to Terrorist Attack

  • 140 Accesses

Abstract

Biological agents that cause viral encephalitis (inflammation of the brain and its meninges) are arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) that normally infect an arthropod vector or an intermediate host to disseminate infection. However, these viruses are also capable of transmission through man-made aerosols, as occurs in laboratory-associated infection or potentially during suspected a biological warfare attack (1). Both mosquitoborne and aerosol routes of transmission may result in epidemic numbers of casualties or disability from viral encephalitis. In the past, biological warfare programs of the United States and the former Soviet Union pursued development and aerosol weaponization of viral encephalitis agents (2). The following discussion will focus on viral biological warfare agents of encephalitis, their clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

The views expressed in this chapter are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Hanson RP, Sulkin SE, Beuscher EL, Hammon WM, McKinney RW, Work TH. Arbovirus infections of laboratory workers. Science 1967;158:1283–1286.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Leitenberg M. Biological weapons in the twentieth century: a review and analysis. Crit Rev Microbiol 2001;27:267–320.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Strauss JH, Strauss EG. The alphaviruses: gene expression, replication, and evolution. Microbiol. Rev. 1994;58:491–562.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Huxsoll DL, Patrick WC, Parrott CD. Veterinary services in biological disasters. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1987;190:714–722.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Davis NL, Powell N, Greenwald GF, et al. Attenuating mutations in the E2 glycoprotein gene of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus: construction of single and multiple mutants in a full-length cDNA clone. Virology 1991;183:20–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. McKinney RW. Inactivated and live VEE vaccines-a review. In: Venezuelan Encephalitis: Proceedings of the Workshop-Symposium on Venezuelan Encephalitis Virus, 14–17 September, 1971. Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, 1972, pp. 369–377.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Calisher CH. Medically important arboviruses of the United States and Canada. Clin Microbiol Rev 1994;7:89–116.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Walton TE, Grayson MA. Venezuelan equine encephalitis. In: Monath TP, ed. The Arboviruses: Epidemiology and Ecology, vol 5. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1988, pp. 203–231.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Pavlin JA. Epidemiology of bioterrorism. Emerg Infect Dis 1999;5:528–530.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Franz DR, Jahrling PB, Friedlander AM, et al. Clinical recognition and management of patients exposed to biological warfare agents. JAMA 1997;278:399–411.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Fine A, Layton M. Lessons from the West Nile viral encephalitis outbreak in New York, 1999: implications for bioterrorism preparedness. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:277–282.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Tsai TF. Arboviral infections in the United States. Infect Dis Clin North Am 1991;5:73–102.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. MacDonald GH, Johnston RE. Role of dendritic cell targeting in Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus pathogenesis. J Virol 2000;74:914–922.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ryzhikov AB, Tkacheva NV, Sergeev AN, Ryabchikova EI. Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus propagation in the olfactory tract of normal and immunized mice. Biomed Sci 1991;2:607–614.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Smith JF, Davis K, Hart MK, et al. Viral encephalitides. In: Sidell FR, Takafuji ET, Franz DR, eds. Textbook of Military Medicine: Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biologic Warfare. Borden Institute, Washington, DC, 1997, pp. 561–589.

    Google Scholar 

  16. de la Monte S, Castro F, Bonilla NJ, Gaskin de Urdaneta A, Hutchins GM. The systemic pathology of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus infection in humans. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1985;34:194–202.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Franck PT, Johnson KM. An outbreak of Venezuelan equine encephalitis in man in the Panama Canal Zone. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1970;19:860–863.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sanchez JL, Takafuji ET, Lednar WM, et al. Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis: report of an outbreak associated with jungle exposure. Mil Med 1984;149:618–621.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Martin DH, Eddy GA, Sudia WD, Reeves WC, Newhouse VF, Johnson KM. An epidemiologic study of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis in Costa Rica, 1970. Am J Epidemiol 1972;95:2565–2578.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Slepushkin AN. An epidemiological study of laboratory infections with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis. Vopr Virusol 1959;3:311–314.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Anonymous. Treatment of Biological Warfare Casualties (Field Manual). Headquarters, Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and Commandant, Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Jahrling PB, Stephenson EH. Protective efficacies of live attenuated and formaldehyde-inactivated Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus vaccines against aerosol challenge in hamsters. J Clin Microbiol 1984;19:429–431.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Sanmartin C. Diseased hosts: man. In: Venezuelan Encephalitis: Proceedings of the Workshop-Symposium on Venezuelan Encephalitis Virus, 14–17 September, 1971. Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, 1972, pp. 186–188.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Bowen GS, Fashinell TR, Dean PB, Gregg MB. Clinical aspects of human Venezuelan equine encephalitis in Texas. Bull Pan Am Health Organ 1976;10:46–57.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Leon CA. Sequelae of Venezuelan equine encephalitis in humans: a four year follow-up. Int J Epidemiol 1975;4:131–140.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Parsonson IM, Della-Porta AJ, Snowdon WA. Developmental disorders of the fetus in some arthropodborne virus infections. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1981;30:660–673.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Deresiewicz RL, Thaler SJ, Hsu L, Zamani AA. Clinical and neuroradiographic manifestations of Eastern equine encephalitis. N Engl J Med 1997;336:1867–1874.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Feemster RF. Equine encephalitis in Massachusetts. N Engl J Med 1958;257:107–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Ayres JC, Feemster RF. The sequelae of eastern equine encephalomyelitis. N Engl J Med 1949;240: 960–962.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Reeves WC, Hammon WM. Epidemiology of the arthropod-borne viral encephalitides in Kern County, California, 1943–52. Univ Calif Public Health 1962;4:257.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Sciple GW, Ray CG, Holden P, La Motte LC, Irons JV, Chin TDY. Encephalitis in the high plains of Texas. Am J Epidemiol 1968;87:87–98.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Earnest MP, Goolishian HA, Calverly JR, Hayes RO, Hill HR. Neurologic, intellectual, and psychologic sequelae following western encephalitis. Neurology 1971;21:969–974.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Shinefield HR, Townsend TE. Transplacental transmission of western equine encephalomyelitis. J Ped 1953;43:21–25.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Whitley RJ, Gnann JW. Viral encephalitis: familiar infections and emerging pathogens. Lancet 2002;359:507–513.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Calisher CH, El-Kafrawi AO, Al-Deen Mahmud MI, et al. Complex-specific immunoglobulin M antibody patterns in humans infected with alphaviruses. J Clin Microbiol 1986;23:155–159.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. McKinney RW, Berge TO, Sawyer WD, Tigertt WD, Crozier D. Use of an attenuated strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus for immunization in man. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1963;12:597–603.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Pittman PR, Makuch RS, Mangiafico JA, Cannon TL, Gibbs PH, Peters CJ. Long-term duration of detectable neutralizing antibodies after administration of live-attenuated VEE vaccine and following booster vaccination with inactivated VEE vaccine. Vaccine 1996;14:337–343.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Cieslak TJ, Christopher GW, Kortepeter MG, et al. Immunization against potential biological warfare agents. Clin Infect Dis 2000;30:843–850.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Hart MK, Caswell-Stephan K, Bakken R, et al. Improved mucosal protection against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus is induced by the molecularly defined, live-attenuated V3526 vaccine candidate. Vaccine 2000;18:3067–3075.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Lennette EH, Koprowski H. Human infection with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus. J AMA 1943;123:1088–1095.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Niranjan Kanesa-thasan MD, MTMH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Michael J. Roy MD, MPH, FACP

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kanesa-thasan, N. (2004). Viral Encephalitides. In: Roy, M.J. (eds) Physician’s Guide to Terrorist Attack. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-663-8_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-663-8_17

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9814-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-663-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation