West Nile Virus: A Neglected Cause of Bell’s Palsy?

Abstract

The West Nile virus (WNV) is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the United States. Bell’s palsy (BP) is a clinical syndrome associated with viral infections, but an association with West Nile virus (WNV) is not well-described, with only two cases reported in the literature. We present a case of a 68-year-old woman presenting with fevers and encephalopathy. Cerebrospinal fluid was positive for WNV. Following improvement, she developed facial weakness and was diagnosed with BP secondary to the WNV infection. Identifying BP associated with WNV infection may have significant clinical implications, but further studies are needed to fully characterize a causative relationship.