Research

A vaccine for horses (ATCvet code: QI05AA10 (WHO)) based on killed viruses exists; some zoos have given this vaccine to their birds, although its effectiveness is unknown. Dogs and cats show few if any signs of infection. There have been no known cases of direct canine-human or feline-human transmission; although these pets can become infected, it is unlikely they are, in turn, capable of infecting native mosquitoes and thus continuing the disease cycle.^[76] AMD3100, which had been proposed as an antiretroviral drug for HIV, has shown promise against West Nile encephalitis. Morpholino antisense oligos conjugated to cell penetrating peptides have been shown to partially protect mice from WNV disease.^[77] There have also been attempts to treat infections using ribavirin, intravenous immunoglobulin, or alpha interferon.^[78] GenoMed, a U.S. biotech company, has found that blocking angiotensin II can treat the "cytokine storm" of West Nile virus encephalitis as well as other viruses.^[79]
A vaccine called Chimerivax-WNV is being actively researched and has undergone phase II Clinical trials in 2011.^{[80][81] [needs update]}