In December 1937, the first case was discovered in the West Nile region of Uganda in Africa. Years later in 1951 the first outbreak of the disease, West Nile fever, caused by West Nile virus was in Israel. The West Nile fever caused a fever, headache, and drowsiness. The disease spread from Africa to the Middle East throughout the years. Then in 1974 there was a major outbreak in South Africa; the virus was found in 3,000 people. The virus arrived in the US in the summer of 1999, in New York City. Patients were diagnosed with encephalitis “inflammation of the brain.” Prior to the patients falling ill, there was an increase in dead birds in NYC. Captive birds at the Bronx Zoo died from encephalitis and myocarditis “inflammation of the myocardium.”
