West Nile Virus (WNV) is one of the major leading causes of mosquito-borne disease. WNV is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Cases of WNV occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall. There are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people. Fortunately, most people infected with WNV do not feel sick. About 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. About 1 out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness.

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Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), caused by the MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), has taken something of a back seat to Ebola among emerging diseases. MERS-CoV is one of six known human coronaviruses that cause respiratory disease in humans with a mortality rate >35%. It is the first highly pathogenic human coronavirus to emerge since the global scare caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003.

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The BK virus, also known as BK polyomavirus or Human polyomavirus 1, is an etiologic agent belonging to the genus of Betapolyomavirus and the family of Polyomaviridae. BK virus was first described in 1971 for isolation from the urine of renal transplant recipients with ureteric stenosis, and later was identified as one cause of nephropathy and renal transplantation failure.

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Hantaan virus (HTNV) infection is an important cause of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia and of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Americas. About 200,000 clinical cases of hantavirus disease are reported every year. Usually, HFRS occurs in 5 consecutive stages: febrile, hypotensive, oliguric, diuretic, and convalescent. Clinical symptoms also include thrombocytopenia and, in severe cases, bleeding due to capillary leak syndrome. HTNV is transmitted to humans by inhalation of aerosols extracted from rodent excreta. Its natural hosts are various small mammals, including rodents, shrews, moles, and bats.

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Herpes is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). Herpes is a very common infection that can persist in your body for life. This infection causes small, painful, fluid-filled blisters to reappear on the skin, mouth, lips (cold sores), eyes, or genitals. More than half of Americans have oral herpes, and about one sixth have genital herpes.

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Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are respiratory viruses that belong to the family Picornaviridae and genus Enterovirus. HRV is the leading cause of upper respiratory tract infections (URI). Besides the common cold, rhinovirus infections are often linked to acute otitis media and rhinosinusitis, which also frequently coincide with bacterial coinfection. Rhinoviruses are capable of remaining infectious on surfaces outside of hosts for hours resulting in a high potential for spread between infected and uninfected individuals.

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HIV-1 and HIV-2 are the causal agents of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). While similar in many ways, a significant amount of data suggests that HIV-2 is less virulent than HIV-1. In fact, HIV-2 infection is characterized by low and frequently undetectable viral loads and a slower course to AIDS. The majority of HIV-2-infected patients can be classified as long-term non-progressors or elite controllers.

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