The National Academies

The National Academies: What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

Back to the Future: The 1918 Influenza Revisited (2009)

Public health officials and organizations around the world remain on high alert because of increasing concerns about the prospect of an influenza pandemic, which many experts believe to be inevitable. The 1918 - 1919 influenza pandemic killed more people in absolute numbers than any other disease outbreak in history. There are lessons to be learned from the 1918 outbreak, regarding how we address the issues facing us today.

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What do you know about infectious disease?

Which is the vector (animal that carries the pathogen) for West Nile virus?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The mosquito is the vector for West Nile virus. The mosquito suffers no ill effects from the virus but transmits it to humans and other warm-blooded creatures (such as crows) when it takes a blood meal. 

  • Correct!

    The mosquito is the vector for West Nile virus. The mosquito suffers no ill effects from the virus but transmits it to humans and other warm-blooded creatures (such as crows) when it takes a blood meal. 

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The mosquito is the vector for West Nile virus. The mosquito suffers no ill effects from the virus but transmits it to humans and other warm-blooded creatures (such as crows) when it takes a blood meal. 

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    The mosquito is the vector for West Nile virus. The mosquito suffers no ill effects from the virus but transmits it to humans and other warm-blooded creatures (such as crows) when it takes a blood meal.