Outbreak of West Nile-like viral encephalitis--New York, 1999.

An outbreak of arboviral encephalitis was first recognized in New York City in late August and has since been identified in neighboring counties in New York state. Although initially attributed to St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus based on positive serologic findings in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples using a virus-specific IgM-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the cause of the outbreak has been confirmed as a West Nile-like virus based on the identification of virus in human, avian, and mosquito samples.