West Nile virus, first isolated in the 1930s in the West Nile region of Uganda, has become a concern in recent years in temperate zones in Europe and North America. This virus poses a threat to human, equine, and animal health. The most serious consequence of infection is fatal encephalitis in humans and horses, and mortality in domestic and wild birds. The top 25 papers in West Nile virus research include details of outbreaks, most notably a 1999 outbreak among humans in New York City resulting in seven deaths; the role of migratory birds in the spread of the disease as well as the pathology of affected migratory birds; protein analyses of virus isolates; novel detection assays, in particular a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction; and the potential protective effects of substances such as melatonin and dehydroepiandrosterone in murine in vivo experiments. Several papers dealing with structural analyses of viruses of the genus Flavivirus, of which the West Nile virus is a part, are included in the list of top 25 papers. While not technically focusing on West Nile virus itself, these papers demonstrate the relation of West Nile virus to other flaviviral organisms.

Methodology

To construct this database, papers were extracted based on title- and author-supplied keywords for West Nile Virus. The keywords used were as follows: 'west nile virus'.

The baseline time span for this database is 1992 - April 2002. The resulting database contained 366 papers; 989 authors; 35 countries; 115 journals; and 289 institutions.

Rankings

Once the database was in place, it was used to generate the lists of top 25 papers, authors, journals, institutions, and nations, covering a time span of ten years and four months.

The top 25 papers are ranked according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution, and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total papers, and total cites/paper.

Return to previous page