West Nile Virus may have felled Alexander the Great
Dying ravens provide clue to
conqueror's swift demise.
28
November 2003
HELEN
PEARSON
 |
| Alexander witnessed ravens
dying in Babylon before he became ill. |
| ©
GettyImages | | |
He ruled Macedonia, crushed the Persian Empire and
invaded India. But a simple infection with West Nile
virus may finally have toppled Alexander the Great.
The legendary military leader died suddenly in 323 BC
in the Mesopotamian city of Babylon, near current-day
Baghdad. The cause of his death, aged only 32, has
puzzled historians for years. Poisoning, flu and typhoid
fever have all been suggested, based on records of his
two-week illness.
Now epidemiologist John Marr of the Virginia
Department of Health in Richmond and infectious-disease
expert Charles Calisher of Colorado State University in
Fort Collins have a new suggestion: West Nile fever1.
Common in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East, West
Nile virus has found renewed global fame since its
accidental introduction to the United States in 1999.
The virus is harboured by birds and other animals and is
transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.
Marr and Calisher cite a passage by the Greek
biographer Plutarch. "When [Alexander] arrived before
the walls of [Babylon]," Plutarch recorded, "he saw a
large number of ravens flying about and pecking one
another, and some of them fell dead in front of
him."
The ravens might have been dying of West Nile virus
infection, the researchers suggest. Ravens belong to a
family of birds that are particularly susceptible to the
pathogen - members of the same family are responsible
for the virus' spread across the United States.
Marr and Calisher tested their idea using an online
diagnostic program called GIDEON (Global Infectious
Diseases and Epidemiology Network). After entering
Alexander's symptoms - respiratory infection, liver
disorder, rash - plus the link with birds, "the answer
was West Nile, 100%", says Calisher.
"It's fairly compelling," says Thomas Mather, an
epidemiologist at the University of Rhode Island in
Kingston. But West Nile virus tends to kill the elderly
or those with weakened immune systems, he points out.
"If he was so great, he might not have been bumped off
by this disease," Mather says.
Case history
Alexander the Great - more properly known as
Alexander III of Macedon - quashed enemies in his own
kingdom before famously conquering the Persian
territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt. He
eventually built an empire that stretched west as far as
Greece, east to India, and north to the Danube.
|
If he was so great, he might not
have been bumped off by this
disease |
|
Thomas Mather
University
of
Rhode
Island | | |
Calisher admits that Alexander's retrospective
diagnosis cannot be certain. But he says that the study
illustrates how important it is for doctors today to
take into account the full history of a case - such as
exposure to animals. | 
