Emerging Infections and Pregnancy: West Nile Virus, Monkeypox, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and Bioterrorism

As new infectious diseases, such as West Nile virus, monkeypox, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are recognized in the United States, there are critical questions about how these infectious diseases will affect pregnant women and their infants. In addition, the implications of bioterrorist attacks for exposed pregnant women need to be considered. In this article, the authors address the following questions for a number of infectious disease threats: (1) does pregnancy affect the clinical course of these novel infectious diseases?, (2) what are the implications for prophylaxis and treatment of exposed or infected pregnant women?, and (3) are these novel infectious diseases transmitted during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding?