Encephalitis virus may spread south
Wednesday, 29 September 1999 0:00 (GMT)
NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) - The West Nile encephalitis virus that has claimed
four lives in New York City may be spreading to other parts of the country as migrating
birds head south for the winter. "These viruses do travel with birds,
and bird migration has been in process now for a better part of the month," Dr. Duane
Gubler, the director of the division of vector-borne infectious disease at the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told The New York Times.
"There is a good possibility that this virus has already been taken to
areas further south," he said. "We are going to rethink our whole surveillance
approach."
Thirty-seven people have tested positive for the West Nile virus after the CDC
changed it diagnosis from the St. Louis encephalitis virus, which was originally believed
to be the virus responsible for the outbreak. An additional 162 suspected cases from the
New York City area are still being investigated.
The entire city of New York has been sprayed with the pesticide malathion at
least twice. Additional rounds of pesticide spraying will continue until there is a
killing frost that wipes out the mosquitoes. In addition, Westchester
County is also undergoing the pesticide spraying as are parts of Connecticut. Spraying
began in New Jersey today.
More than 500 birds have been found to be infected with the virus in the New
York City area and infected birds have also been found in New Jersey, Connecticut, upstate
New York, Westchester County and Long Island.
"What's more, as birds continue their fall migration, some scientists are
concerned that birds carrying the virus will take it with them as they move south,"
said Gubler.
The disease is carried by birds and passed on to humans by mosquitoes. It is
normally not fatal if treated, but it can be in those with lowered immune systems.
The symptoms begin with fever and headache and can lead to hallucinations and
paralysis.
