An acute arboviral infection caused by a virus of the <i>Flaviviridae</i> family transmitted by an infected mosquito, and characterized by the onset of flulike symptoms such as fever, malaise, headache, cough, and sore throat that can progress to meningitis or encephalitis with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, confusion, stiff neck, disorientation, irritability, tremors, and convulsions. Photophobia, cranial nerve palsies, and even coma may occur.

Cerebellar ataxia refers to ataxia due to dysfunction of the cerebellum. This causes a variety of elementary neurological deficits including asynergy (lack of coordination between muscles, limbs and joints), dysmetria (lack of ability to judge distances that can lead to under- oder overshoot in grasping movements), and dysdiadochokinesia (inability to perform rapid movements requiring antagonizing muscle groups to be switched on and off repeatedly).