ABSTRACT
West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded, positive sense RNA virus belonging to the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) serocomplex group within the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. Other notable members of the JEV group include JEV, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV), Rocio virus (ROCV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), and Usutu virus (USUV) (see Figure 23.1), which are important causes of encephalitis in humans [1,2].
