posted 07-24-2002 11:22 AM               

American Bullfrogs Posing Threat to English Ecosystem, Officials Say

The Associated Press

L O N D O N, July 23 — North American bullfrogs introduced to southeastern England could endanger the ecosystem if they are allowed to breed unchecked, authorities warned Tuesday.

English Nature, the government agency that looks after the conservation of wildlife, said bullfrogs are voracious eaters that can grow to a length of eight inches and will consume fish, other frogs, reptiles and small birds.

Bullfrogs were first spotted in England about two years ago, and English Nature is concerned about the amphibian's ability to produce thousands of offspring.

"The main hazard is that they will basically cause the native wildlife, particularly frogs, to decline rapidly. They will either be eaten or out-competed," said Stuart Burgess, a spokesman for English Nature.

"Obviously frogs reproduce with lots of spawn and individuals could have the potential to spread quite quickly."

Burgess said there had been more sightings of the bullfrogs, which were most likely accidentally imported as tadpoles with fish or pond plants, in recent months.

"We are on top of it so far. There are only single individuals, not hoards of these things marauding across the countryside," he said."But if people do not tell us where they are, there is potential for them to spread more widely."

posted 07-24-2002 08:06 PM               

First West Nile Cases Found in Minn.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS- The West Nile virus has spread to Minnesota, showing up in two dead crows.

The state Health Department announced the discovery on Tuesday.

The virus is transmitted by mosquitos. State epidemiologist Harry Hull advised people to use mosquito repellent and wear long-sleeved clothes.

Since its detection in New York City in 1999, more than 150 people have been infected with the virus and 18 have died nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus has spread south and west over the past three years. Cases have been confirmed in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.

---
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/24/072402133.html

_________________________________________________________________

Today: July 24, 2002 at 14:45:24 PDT

West Nile Found in Minn., W.Va.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS- The West Nile virus has spread to Minnesota and West Virginia, showing up in three dead birds.

The Minnesota Health Department announced the discovery of the virus in two dead crows on Tuesday. In West Virginia, state officials said they learned Tuesday that an Eastern blue bird found dead on July 12 has tested positive for the virus.

The virus is transmitted by mosquitos. Authorities advised people to use mosquito repellent and wear long-sleeved clothes.

Since its detection in New York City in 1999, more than 150 people have been infected with the virus and 18 have died nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus has spread south and west over the past three years. Cases have been confirmed in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.

---
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/24/072402525.html

posted 07-25-2002 03:10 PM               

Lake Mich. E. Coli Answers Sought

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAKE FOREST, Ill.- Health officials want to conduct DNA tests to see if seagull droppings are polluting Lake Michigan with E. coli bacteria, forcing beach closures.

"It's not very pleasant to talk about, but we want to take very fresh feces from the beach so we can incubate out the E. coli strands we find for the genetic testing," Mark Pfister, a health department biologist in Lake County, north of Chicago, said Wednesday. The department will recommend ways to curtail the gull population if the droppings match E. coli in the water, he said.

The North Shore Sanitary District was blamed for some recent beach closures in Lake County after sewage spilled into the lake.

"All of you should not come away from this meeting saying 'more gulls, more problems,'" Sierra Club member Donald Dann said at a public hearing Wednesday. "Testing has been done before, and there's still not unequivocal evidence that there is a link."

Researchers say heavy rain, high wind, warmth and hazy skies can cause bacteria levels to increase.

Health officials cited raw sewage, storm-water runoff, aging sewer pipes and stagnant water caused by recent dry conditions as possible causes.

In Chicago, some beaches were reopened Thursday after being closed since Monday because of E. coli bacteria in the water.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/25/072504202.html

__________________________________________________________________

Amoebas attack boy's brain

From the National Desk
Published 7/25/2002 10:27 AM

ORLANDO, Fla., July 25 (UPI) -- Florida Hospital Orlando listed a 12-year-old Oviedo, Fla., boy in critical condition Thursday from amoebas that attacked his brain after a swim in a central Florida lake.

The rare condition is not contagious, but it is usually fatal, said Dr. Jaime Carrizosa, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital.

"We're doing everything we can for him, but this is a very serious infection," Carrizosa said. "Once inside the body, these amoebas just divide and divide, and you will have an overwhelming infection very quickly."

Although the state has counted only 19 cases since 1962, the infectious amoebas are common in Florida's freshwater lakes and rivers. Doctors say they get into the brain after the swimmer takes them into his or her nostrils.

The amobebas live in the material on the bottoms of freshwater lakes, rivers and hot springs, and have also been found in swimming pools which have not been chlorinated.

The boy, who has not been identified, apparently picked up the infection at either Long Lake Park in Oveido or in the Conway Chain of Lakes in Orange County where he has been swimming recently.

Health officials said it did not make much sense to close a lake because of the amoebas, because so many bodies of water are infected.

A 1999 study found that 46 percent of the lakes sampled contained the organism.

"If we wanted to avoid all potential exposures to this organism, we would have to close all bodies of water in the state of Florida," said Dr. Steven Wiersma of the Florida Department of Health.

Headaches and nausea are the first symptoms, followed by seizures and coma.

posted 07-25-2002 10:11 PM               

White House Bird Gets West Nile Test

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON- A dead bird discovered on the White House grounds is being tested to see if it is infected with West Nile Virus.

The crow is one of two found near a fountain on the South Lawn this week. The first was discovered late Sunday by Secret Service officers, who then found the second early Monday.

A District of Columbia crew sent to collect the birds found the first too decomposed to test. The second was sent to a state lab in Maryland, which tests all suspect bird carcasses found in the district. The process will take a few days.

Forty-five dead birds in the city have tested positive for West Nile so far this year, according to the D.C. Dept. of Health. More than half have been found in a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of the district.

That area is home to the National Zoo, which said last week that two flamingo chicks and a duck died this month from West Nile, which the zoo also believes killed a dozen more of its birds.

posted 07-26-2002 01:04 AM               

By Steve Mitchell
UPI Medical Correspondent
From the Science & Technology Desk
Published 7/23/2002 7:49 PM

A tick-borne disease similar to Lyme disease has been popping up in southern states and other areas of the country since the 1990s and scientists still are trying to figure out if this is a new disease or simply a Lyme variant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is funding studies to determine the cause of the ailment, which has been dubbed Master's disease, but so far the culprit has remained unidentified.

Sam Telford, a researcher at Harvard University who focuses on Master's disease and will present an overview of it next month at the Ninth International Conference on Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases in New York City, told United Press International, "For the first time (at the conference), Master's disease is being considered as an entity separate from Lyme disease."

"There's a lot of interest in it" and the conference should help extend the knowledge about the disease, Telford said.

Although the symptoms of Master's disease are quite similar to Lyme disease and include the "bulls-eye" rash that is Lyme's hallmark, as well as fever, fatigue and achiness, it appears to be caused by a different tick and a different bacterium.

Ned Hayes, a medical epidemiologist with the Lyme disease program at the CDC, told UPI since the early 1990s more than 100 people have been diagnosed with the mysterious condition. CDC prefers the name Southern tick-associated rash illness, or STARI, but some scientists consider this designation inaccurate.

Master's disease was first identified in Missouri in 1991 when 45 patients developed the bulls-eye rash. However, subsequent investigation of these patients failed to identify Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme bacteria.

In addition, the infected people did not produce the expected antibodies -- proteins produced by the body in response to an infection -- specific for Lyme, which indicated their rashes were caused by some different germ.

Several more clusters of people developed this rash throughout the 1990s without revealing Lyme disease as the culprit. There were 23 additional cases in Missouri, 14 cases in North Carolina and 23 in Georgia. Sporadic cases also have been reported "among military personnel doing field maneuvers in southern states," Hayes said.

Scientists eventually discovered in most of these cases people had reported being bitten by a type of tick called a lone star tick -- Amblyomma americanum -- so named because of a yellow star-shaped patch on its back. This tick, which does not usually transmit the Lyme disease bacteria, is quite different from the deer tick, which transmits Lyme bacteria to humans.

Lone star ticks occur in the southeastern states from Texas to Florida and up to Virginia, whereas the deer tick's range primarily is in the northeastern states, which is where most Lyme disease cases occur.

"We still don't know what causes (Master's disease)," Hayes said, but many scientists now think it is caused by an as-yet-unidentified bacterium similar to the Lyme disease germ.

Although no one has seen this new organism yet, researchers have detected its DNA in lone star ticks and in at least one person's rash. "So we think its coming from a new species of (bacteria)," Hayes said.

The bacterium has been named Borrelia lonestari and it may be similar to a bacterium that caused fever in cattle at the turn of the 20th century, Telford said.
The CDC currently is funding a study to identify the cause of the illness definitively.

The effort involves taking tissue samples from the rash site and looking for the DNA of this new bacterium. The next step is to show conclusively people with the rash are infected with Borellia lonestari, Hayes said. But it could be that the bacterium is not the cause of the problem, he noted.

Telford agreed, saying, "The evidence isn't there yet" to put the blame on B. lonestari. He noted Ed Masters -- a family doctor in private practice in Missouri for whom the disease was named -- has had hundreds of tissue samples from patients with the illness tested for the DNA of B. lonestari and no one yet has detected any indication of the organism in any of the samples.

Telford thinks there "may be multiple causes of Master's disease," including a reaction to the tick bite itself, a new species of bacteria or some other unrecognized agent. "Whatever it is, it's unique to the lone star tick," he said.

Masters told UPI the illness could have multiple causes and it might be too early to call it a new disease. "We're still on the front end of a very steep learning curve," he said, noting the rash and the symptoms of the disease are identical to Lyme and no one has proven which bacteria is the true cause. So it very well could be a variant of Lyme carried by lone star ticks instead of deer ticks.

The good news is although symptoms of Master's disease can be similar to Lyme disease, they seem less severe and they disappear on their own. Lyme disease's symptoms, on the other hand, can linger for years, if not indefinitely, and can cause neurological problems and even affect the heart.

"Most of the time the rash is the most prominent symptom," Hayes said. About half the people who develop Master's disease report fatigue, 43 percent have headache, about 36 percent have aching muscles and 29 percent have fever.

"Most physicians, if they see the (Master's disease) rash, will treat it with doxycycline because they think its Lyme disease," Hayes said. Doxycycline is an antibiotic that can knock out Lyme disease if treatment is begun early enough.

Doxycycline also seems to knock out the symptoms of Master's disease, Hayes said. "But whether the symptoms would've went away anyway is anybody's guess," he said, noting in patients who did not receive treatment, the rash, headache and muscle aches went away eventually.

Doctors are not required to report cases of this disease to state health departments or the CDC, so it is unclear how many cases there have been across the country. "There's no indication that this is spreading," Hayes said.

Telford and Masters disagreed, saying they believe the disease often is confused with Lyme and therefore it is probably more prevalent than expected.

Telford said the incidence of Master's disease "must be huge because these ticks are just a nightmare. They're so abundant and very aggressive. They're places where you could get 2,000 ticks crawling up your leg."

Masters noted "the lone star tick is expanding its territory" and this could increase the number of cases of people who develop Master's disease. The disease may be expanding outside of the southern states to some northern states such as Iowa because people have come down with Lyme disease symptoms there even though they probably were not exposed to deer ticks, he said.

posted 07-26-2002 01:07 AM               

El Niρo May Be To Blame

Posted: 3:21 p.m. EDT July 25, 2002
Updated: 3:36 p.m. EDT July 25, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- Hundreds of giant squid are washing up on the beaches of San Diego's upscale La Jolla Coves, possibly as a result of warm El Niρo weather patterns, according to local scientists.

The squid may be getting stuck in a warm water current and pushed onto San Diego shores, KGTV-TV reported. The beachings are creating a big problem for swimmers and a big stink for residents. The area is popular with divers and snorkelers, but officials are concerned that the squids' ink may be unhealthy.

The jumbo flying squid, known by their scientific name Dosidicus gigas, normally nestle in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Their natural habitat ranges from Oregon to Peru.

The beach strandings puzzle Annette Henry, a state marine biologist. "I don't know why they are dying," she said. "They seem to be perfectly healthy squid." Scientists noticed another strange stranding in May when tiny red crabs that looked like miniature lobsters covered San Diego's Ocean Beach area.

posted 07-26-2002 12:16 PM               

By Associated Press, 7/26/2002 01:10

WASHINGTON (AP) A dead crow discovered on the White House grounds was infected with West Nile virus, health officials said after the bird was tested.

The crow is one of two found near a fountain on the South Lawn this week. The first was discovered late Sunday by Secret Service officers, who then found the second early Monday.

A District of Columbia crew sent to collect the birds found the first too decomposed to test. The second was sent to a state lab in Maryland, which tests all suspect bird carcasses found in the district.

An additional 45 dead birds in the city have tested positive for West Nile so far this year, according to the city's Health Department.

posted 07-26-2002 12:18 PM               

Friday, July 26, 2002
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Dozens of passengers aboard a Holland America week-long cruise to Alaska fell ill with what a cruise line spokesman says may be a common virus.
The Ryndam docked here Thursday after the Alaska voyage.

In all, 163 passengers and nine crew members were reported to be suffering flu-like symptoms.

Cruise ships must report an illness when more than 3 percent of passengers on board are affected, said Holland America spokesman Erik Elvejord. In this case, nearly 13 percent fell ill. A reported 1,266 people were on board.

The cruise line is awaiting lab test results to determine the culprit but Elvejord said Holland America thinks a virus similar to the Norwalk virus is to blame. He said cases of the Norwalk virus have been reportedly recently in Alaska.

The ship's crew has disinfected all rooms and common areas of the ship.

A Norwalk-type virus is believed to have sickened 100 of 170 campers at a Christian children's camp on British Columbia's coast northwest of here.

posted 07-27-2002 01:39 AM               

First W. Nile Case Found in S.D.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.- A dead crow was found infected with the West Nile virus in South Dakota, the farthest west the disease has been detected, officials said Friday.

The bird was found Monday in Aberdeen in northeastern South Dakota, said Dr. Lon Kightlinger, state epidemiologist. The virus has now been detected in 32 states and the District of Columbia. The virus is transmitted by mosquitos.

Since its detection in New York City in 1999, more than 150 people have been infected with the virus and 18 have died nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus has spread south and west over the past three years. Authorities advise people to use mosquito repellent and wear long-sleeved clothes.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/26/072607627.html

___________________________________________________________________

Wisconsin to test 50,000 deer for brain disease
USA: July 26, 2002

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources plans to test up to 50,000 deer killed by hunters this fall for a fatal brain disease that is threatening the state's hunting economy, the agency said this week.

Known as chronic wasting disease, or CWD, the illness was confirmed in Wisconsin's wild deer herd in February.

Since then, a total of 18 Wisconsin deer have tested positive for the condition.State wildlife officials have said they want to eradicate the deer population, estimated at about 25,000 head, within a core three-county area where all of the infected deer were found.

In addition, the fall plan will involve testing thousands of deer in a surrounding "management zone" and 500 deer in nearly every other Wisconsin county.

"This statewide testing plan will tell hunters and citizens with 99 percent certainty that the disease does or doesn't exist in the deer population in a given county," Tom Hauge, chief of the department's Bureau of Wildlife Management, said in a statement issued on Tuesday."We hope that this level of assurance will reduce some of the anxiety people may have regarding venison and the health of the deer herd in Wisconsin," he said.

Deer hunting has an economic impact in Wisconsin worth about $1.5 billion a year, according to a Department of Natural Resources estimate. State officials have said they intend to closely watch sales of hunting licenses this fall to determine whether interest declines.

CWD is in the same family of illnesses as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. In Europe, at least 125 people have contracted a related, fatal human illness linked to eating beef from infected cows.

CWD has never been shown to infect humans or cattle, but the World Health Organization has advised against eating venison or any part of an animal showing signs of the disease - a fact that has raised questions about venison stored in home freezers across Wisconsin.

The state has called on hunters to help with the testing effort by submitting deer heads for analysis. Wisconsin expanded its fall deer-hunting season and added four week-long summer hunts to reduce the deer population in the core CWD area.

The Department of Natural Resources said it could take up to six months to test all the deer collected. Hunters who submit samples will be able to access the results through an Internet site or a toll-free telephone number, the statement said.Wisconsin laboratories initially did not have capability to test for CWD, but upgrades planned for the state's main veterinary lab will enable it to test up to 30,000 deer per year, starting this fall, the statement said.

posted 07-27-2002 05:19 PM               

Fla. Teen Sick With Rare Bacteria
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORLANDO, Fla.- A 15-year-old boy remained in critical condition Saturday with a rare bacterial infection he contracted while swimming in a lake.

The boy was swimming July 20 in Lake Talmadge, northeast of Orlando, when a bacteria known as chromobacterium violaceum entered his body through a cut on his leg, officials said.

The teenager's identity was not released.

Dr. Jaime Carrizosa, the infectious disease specialist for Florida Hospital-Orlando, where the boy is being treated, said the teen was fortunate blood cultures identified the bacteria quickly.

Treating the infection as early as possible is essential, he said.

"This kid is coming through," Carrizosa said.

A 12-year-old boy died Friday in the same hospital from a rare brain infection he caught while swimming in another group of lakes in central Florida. He contracted primary amebic meningoencephalitis after inhaling some microscopic one-celled organisms, hospital officials said.

His name was not released.

"It's frightening when a tiny little bug can cause such devastation to a child," said Dr. Steven Wiersma, epidemiologist for the Florida Department of Health.

Only 150 cases of the amoeba infection have ever been reported, Wiersma said. Only 50 cases of the chromobacterium infection have been recorded

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/jul/27/072708300.html

posted 07-29-2002 06:15 PM               

West Nile Virus Spreads Quickly

By Lauran Neergaard
AP Medical Writer
Monday, July 29, 2002; 4:49 PM

WASHINGTON –– West Nile virus is sickening people far earlier this summer than usual, and is spreading so quickly – it's hit 32 states, as far west as South Dakota – that health officials believe it will reach California this year or next.

Nobody knows how bad the mosquito-borne illness will get, although an outbreak among 16 people in Louisiana began a month earlier than West Nile has ever struck there. But it's clear the virus first detected in New York City a mere three years ago has become a permanent summertime threat for most of the country.

Yet it's fairly easy to prevent: Spray on DEET-containing mosquito repellent when you go outdoors, and don't let puddles collect in flower pots, wading pools or other spots where mosquitoes can breed. One specialist equates the safety steps to the routine of buckling a seat belt before driving.

"That's the level of worry people should have," says Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "You should be concerned enough about it to do something but not have it change your whole lifestyle."

West Nile virus has struck other countries for decades, from the tip of Africa up to Europe and throughout Asia, so its move here probably was inevitable. The CDC has confirmed 161 U.S. cases, including 18 deaths, since the first Americans were diagnosed in 1999.

No one has died so far this year. But in addition to Louisiana's West Nile-caused encephalitis cases, a Mississippian is sick and health officials are investigating 10 similarly ill Texans.

The virus doesn't discriminate: A dead crow was even found on the White House lawn.

West Nile can cause a potentially fatal brain inflammation. Anyone suffering such symptoms as a high fever, severe headache, confusion or difficulty thinking, stiff neck or severe muscle weakness should see a doctor right away. It has struck Americans as young as 16, but those most at risk are over 50.

For every case of West Nile encephalitis, 150 more people are thought to be mildly infected – not sick enough to see a doctor. They get a flu-like illness, with fever, headache and muscle pains, that lasts two or three days.

West Nile infects numerous types of wild birds, from house sparrows to crows. Mosquitoes spread it among birds, and then to people. A spate of dead birds can be an early warning signal that the virus is circulating in a certain spot.

Aside from people, the mammals most vulnerable are horses. There is a horse vaccine but not a human one, nor is there any anti-viral treatment – victims get supportive care.

Preventing mosquito bites is important. Some health departments track bird deaths in deciding when to spray insecticides, but the CDC says consumers can do a lot on their own:

–Wear a mosquito repellent containing DEET; those without DEET aren't nearly as effective. Follow the label's instructions carefully, especially when applying to children.

–Stay indoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.

–Get rid of mosquito breeding grounds on your property. Don't allow water to stand for more than two days. Mosquito eggs need only a little water to hatch, and many species don't fly long distances, so West Nile-bearing mosquitoes were probably born nearby. Typical culprits are empty paint cans collecting water under decks, unused pools, blocked rain gutters, flower pots and forgotten buckets.

–Gadgets that catch bugs aren't proven to reduce the number of mosquito bites. They might attract a neighbor's mosquitoes to your yard, or kill only one species instead of another type more likely to carry West Nile.

"It's a lot less expensive to rely on the old-fashioned methods," Petersen says.

The Mosquito Control Association also recommends frequently changing birdbath water, stocking ponds with mosquito-eating minnows and using larvicides in unavoidable standing water.

People can't get West Nile from each other or by touching an infected animal. Zoos with exotic birds are not considered particularly risky – wild birds spread West Nile, and exotic birds that get it usually die quickly.

But even as West Nile races across the country, there's no real predicting how big a threat it will pose each year. Abroad, West Nile hides for years between periodic epidemics – a pattern likely here, too, says Petersen.

––

EDITOR'S NOTE – Lauran Neergaard covers health and medicine for The Associated Press in Washington.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17570-2002Jul29.html

_____________________________________________________________

Today: July 29, 2002 at 15:20:09 PDT

West Nile Found in 34 States
ASSOCIATED PRESS

West Nile virus has been found in 34 states and the District of Columbia since it was first detected in the United States in 1999. The states include:

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

--

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/29/072901929.html

__________________________________________________________________

Tick disease poses threat to blood supply

By Steve Mitchell
UPI Medical Correspondent
From the Science & Technology Desk
Published 7/29/2002 2:00 AM
View printer-friendly version

A potentially fatal disease spread by ticks may be on the increase and government and public health officials are concerned it could be infiltrating the blood supply.

Babesiosis, a mild malaria-like illness, is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis, the black-legged tick, the same creature that carries Lyme disease. So far, babesiosis largely has been confined to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and parts of Long Island, N.Y.

In recent years, however, the tiny black-legged ticks -- also called deer ticks -- that carry the disease appear to be expanding their range, Sam Telford, a researcher at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., who focuses on tickborne diseases, told United Press International.

"We do believe it's probably spreading," Peter Krause of the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, told UPI. Krause noted people have become infected with the disease in New Jersey and farther inland in Connecticut, indicating it is spreading westward in that state.

This raises concern on two levels. People who pick up the disease from a tick are at risk of death because the disease can be fatal in 5 percent of cases and there is a risk they could transmit the protozoan that causes the disease to others if they donate blood, Krause said.

More than 30 cases of people contracting the disease through blood transfusions have been documented but the total number of cases is likely much higher because the disease often goes unrecognized and unreported, he said. In most people, the disease causes fever and aches for about a week, but it can have severe consequences and some people may have to be placed on life support.

"This disease is definitely underestimated," Krause said. "There are more cases than we realize and it's increasing." He added many physicians are becoming more aware of the disease and more labs are starting to test for it, "so we're going to be seeing more cases just because of increased recognition. Scientists know the risk of transmitting babesiosis via blood transfusions is a problem ... and they are looking for ways to decrease the possibility of this."

Krause noted both the American Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta are involved in a study to determine the prevalence of the disease and the risk posed to the blood supply.

Barbara Herwaldt, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, told UPI the threat of babesiosis getting into the blood supply is "of concern," but she declined to elaborate further on the study or how much of a risk contaminated blood poses to the general population.

The Red Cross did not respond to phone calls from UPI seeking comment. Other blood bank organizations also are worried about the threat of babesiosis.

"It is relatively high on our priority list for transfusion infections," said Louis Katz, vice president of medical affairs at the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center in Davenport, Iowa, and chair of the American Association of Blood Banks transfusion/transmitted diseases committee.

"The reason it is an issue in blood banking now is due to environmental and demographic changes over the past years and people are now living where ticks are," Katz said. This means babesiosis infections are increasing so it is more likely infected people will donate blood, he said.

Although there is no test for screening blood for babesiosis, the Food and Drug Administration does require blood centers to ask about the disease and bar people from donating if they report ever having the disease, an FDA spokesman told UPI. However, this may not catch everyone infected with the disease because often people will catch it but the symptoms are so minor they do not realize they are infected, Krause said.

The FDA spokesman stressed, "The benefit of receiving a blood transfusion far outweighs any theoretical risk associated with receiving that transfusion." But he said, "The FDA would be very interested in a blood screening test (for babesiosis) being brought forward for evaluation," adding the agency is attempting to develop such a test.

People at greatest risk of contracting babesiosis via blood transfusions are the elderly, patients whose spleens have been removed and those with weakened immune systems due to surgery, cancer or HIV/AIDS, Krause said. In these patients, babesiosis is more likely to cause serious health problems or death. The disease also could interfere with recovery from surgery.

Krause said children also are at risk of contracting the disease but they seem to be protected from the serious complications.

Scientists likely will continue to focus on babesiosis in the near future. Telford said "the disease will get a lot of interest" next month at an international conference on Lyme and other tickborne diseases in New York City. He also predicted it will continue to spread and become more of an issue with the public at large

posted 07-29-2002 06:17 PM               

Conn. Can Bar Scouts As Charity
ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARTFORD, Conn.- Connecticut did not violate the rights of the Boy Scouts when it dropped the group from a list of charities that state employees contribute to through a payroll deduction plan, a federal judge has ruled.

A state panel removed the Boy Scouts from the list in 2000, after a state human rights commission found that including the organization violates state anti-discrimination laws because of the scouts' ban on gay troop leaders.

The Irving, Texas-based Boy Scouts and a Connecticut scouting council filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state, arguing that exclusion from the list violated the group's First Amendment rights.

In a decision dated July 22, U.S. District Judge Warren Eginton ruled in favor of the state.

"I am gratified by the court's decision," state Comptroller Nancy Wyman said Monday. "It just basically states that the state of Connecticut does not, and cannot by law, do business with organizations that discriminate."

The Connecticut State Employee Campaign Committee hires the United Way to collect employee payroll deductions. In 1999, state employees directly contributed $9,950 to the Boy Scouts, which also received a portion of $200,000 that was not designated for any one charity.

A lawyer for the Boy Scouts said the group would appeal.

"We remain confident that the Boy Scouts will be successful," attorney George Davidson said Monday. They "have been singled out on the basis of viewpoint."

Gay rights groups welcomed Eginton's ruling.

"The ruling makes clear that while the Boy Scouts may be allowed to discriminate, they are not entitled to any special privileges from the state," said Karen Loewy, an attorney with the Gay & Lesbian Advocates and & Defenders.

posted 07-30-2002 02:35 AM               

With the reports of birds dying in California, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before west Nile be blamed on it. Just wait, there'll be a massive ground level spray campaign developing soon in an attempt to eliminate the mysterious virus like they did here in Connecticut. They sprayed in some neighborhoods without giving people adequate warning a few times, usually posting signs on telephone poles and not much press or radio coverage.

West Port Connecticut City Sprays "left-over" pesticide on sleeping citizens
http://www.getipm.com/government/scrouge-westport-ct.htm

The Stamford Advocate articles about people getting sprayed when they slept can be found here.

West Nile Reports
http://www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/00-07-26a.htm

OVERKILL: Why Pesticide Spraying for West Nile Virus May Cause More Harm Than Good

Prepared by theToxics Action Center and Maine Environmental Policy InstituteAugust 2001

http://www.meepi.org/wnv/ct.htm

New York State Department of Health- Scourge Information Sheet

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/environ/scourge.htm

Choose your poison -- pesticides or West Nile virus

http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/08/08172000/westnile_30596.asp

quote:

---

Pesticides sprayed from the air and on the ground are being used to combat mosquitoes in the wake of West Nile virus outbreaks in the United States.

---

West Nile Virus: Latest News
http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/news.html

They'll spray you with either Malathion Resmethrin or Sumithrin. We got Resmethrin otherwise called Scourge.

Resmethrin

posted 07-30-2002 03:05 AM               

D.C. West Nile outbreaks cluster around Army unit

Military lab experimenting with vaccine for virus spreading fast into Fairfax County

Posted: July 26, 2002
8:41 p.m. Eastern

By Paul Sperry
WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – Over the past 18 months, health officials here have found 407 dead birds infected with the West Nile virus, including two picked up at the White House this week.

The mosquito-borne virus is spreading so fast in nearby Fairfax County, meanwhile, that health officials have stopped testing dead birds. Every quadrant of the county now has the virus.

Fifty birds – two blue jays and the rest crows – have already tested positive in the county so far this year, an official told WorldNetDaily. That's up from 34 for all of last year. And neighboring Maryland has led the nation in West Nile virus cases, a few of which have resulted in human deaths. What's behind the Beltway outbreak? No one knows for sure.

Experts don't even know how the North African virus, first discovered in New York in 1999, entered the U.S., although theories, such as bioterrorism, abound (even though the virus is not known to be an efficient bioweapons agent).

"They don't know how it started," said Dennis Hill, spokesman for the Fairfax County Health Department.

Some cite the National Zoo as a possible breeding ground.

It's in the Northwest part of Washington, where the city's West Nile virus cases have clustered. But zoo officials report only about a dozen bird deaths.

Many of the infected birds have been found in neighborhoods around the former headquarters of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, which has been developing a vaccine for West Nile virus.

The infectious-diseases lab moved to Silver Spring, Md., three years ago. But lab microbiologists still do research at the main post in Washington, which includes a hospital with an infectious-diseases clinic and lab on the 6th floor,

Army officials say. Other visitors include researchers from the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, where the Army has tested biological weapons agents including anthrax, tularemia and encephalitis.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at 6900 Georgia Ave., N.W., is in the city's Ward 1, where many of the virus-carrying birds have been picked up. In fact, many have been found at sites along Georgia Avenue, N.W., says D.C. Health Department spokeswoman Vera Jackson.

The Walter Reed institute is developing a vaccine for West Nile virus that comprises dengue virus with certain genes replaced by West Nile virus genes.

Monkey trials were expected to begin earlier this year. The virus – which has spread from New York to Florida and has been reported as far west as Louisiana, where it has claimed lives – is expected to be in all 50 states within the next two years, Hill says.

The disease produces flu-like symptoms and can lead to death, especially in small children and the elderly. More than 18 have died so far in this hemisphere.

Paul Sperry is Washington bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.

posted 07-31-2002 08:43 PM               

Today: July 31, 2002 at 17:35:19 PDT

La. Confirms One West Nile Death

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BATON ROUGE, La.- A woman in her 70s has died of West Nile virus, a state health department spokesman said Wednesday. It is the nation's first confirmed death from the mosquito-borne disease this year.

The woman, who was not identified, was one of 32 people in Louisiana known to have West Nile, health department spokesman Bob Johannessen said. She died Monday in Baton Rouge.

The department also is working to determine whether West Nile is the cause of two other Louisiana deaths, he added.

Before the woman's death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 185 cases, including 18 deaths, since the first Americans were diagnosed in 1999. The virus was first detected in New York City and has been found in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

posted 08-02-2002 09:03 PM               

Friday, August 2, 2002; 5:12 PM

SLIDELL, La. –– An outbreak of West Nile virus has infected 58 Louisiana residents and killed four, prompting the governor to declare an emergency Friday and ask for federal aid for more mosquito spraying across this hot, humid and swampy state.

The West Nile deaths are the first in the country this year and raise the national toll to 22 since 1999, when the mosquito-borne virus was first detected in the United States.

The Lousiana victims were three men, ages 53 to 75, and an 83-year-old woman, all of whom died in the past few weeks, state health officials said. Twelve people remained hospitalized, four in intensive care.

"This is only the beginning," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist.

Gov. Mike Foster declared a statewide emergency, hoping to get $3 million to $5 million in federal money for parishes that are rapidly using up their mosquito spraying budgets."There ought to be some kind of relief. This is an emergency situation," Foster said Thursday on his weekly "Live Mike" radio show.

The virus is carried by mosquitoes that feed on infected birds and other animals. Most people bitten by the infected insects do not get sick, but the virus can cause flu-like symptoms and encephalitis, a potentially fatal swelling of the brain, in the weak and elderly.

Until June, Louisiana's only human West Nile case was last year, in a homeless man in suburban New Orleans. He survived.Experts said the virus has now spread to virtually every part of watery Louisiana, where mosquitoes are jokingly called the state bird.

The outbreak here is the deadliest since the virus killed seven people and hospitalized 55 others in the New York City area in 1999.

Across southeastern Louisiana, people have been putting fresh water in birdbaths and dumping water out of flowerpot saucers to deprive mosquitos of the standing water they need to breed.

St. Tammany Parish north of New Orleans has sprayed for mosquitoes every night for the past month, three to four times more often than typical during the summer.

Sales of mosquito traps and insect repellents have been brisk.Lois Murphy, 76, said her boss at an antiques shop in St. Tammany Parish has made all employees apply insect repellent. "He makes us spray ourselves twice a day," Murphy said.

In Baton Rouge, where police are investigating a string of three slayings, Louisiana State University employee Patty Scuotto said: "The joke around here is, if the serial killer doesn't kill you, the mosquitoes will."

Dr. Roy Campbell, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Louisiana residents are not necessarily at greater risk because of the state's bayous and other mosquito-breeding terrain.

The severity of the outbreak depends on the species of mosquito, the climate and other factors, he said.

Wayne Machado, owner of Mosquito Control Inc., said the species that carries the disease usually breeds near homes instead of in swamps.

Since 1999, the virus has been found in more than 30 states and it is spreading south and west, reaching Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and West Virginia this year.

Eight people in Texas and 22 in Mississippi are sick with West Nile encephalitis."It will eventually get to all the Western states over time," Campbell said.

Overall, the number of human cases this year has already surpassed the 64 reported last year; 43 were reported in Louisiana and Mississippi on Friday alone.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37216-2002Aug2.html

posted 08-02-2002 09:40 PM               

Ariz. Woman Dies in Bee Sting Attack

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SUNIZONA, Ariz.- A woman was stung at least 80 times by a swarm of bees and told her boyfriend she loved him just before she died.

Cheryl McClain and Ted Richard were attacked on Tuesday while moving items into a storage shed behind their home. They sprayed themselves with water and tore at their clothes, Richard said from his hospital bed.

Finally, he said, McClain looked at him and said, "I love you, Ted." "I love you, too, Cheryl. It'll be OK, Cheryl," he answered as she collapsed. McClain, 46, died from anaphylactic shock, the coroner's office said.

She was the fifth person in Arizona to die from a bee attack since 1993.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/aug/02/080209825.html

_________________________________________________________________

Today: August 02, 2002 at 18:45:12 PDT U.K. Legionnaires' Outbreak Kills 1

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON- An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in northwest England killed an 89-year-old man and infected at least 18 other people, an official said Friday.

Thirty-six other people were suspected of having the disease, Health authorities in Cumbria said. The man who died was not identified.

The cases were all reported in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, in England's lake district. People hospitalized with symptoms of the disease told investigators they had been within 500 yards of City Hall, said Dr. Nigel Calvert, a consultant in communicable disease control.

Worried father Bernard Hannaway took his 18-year old daughter Laura to Furness General Hospital to have her checked for the disease. "She's been feeling ill for two or three days. She has been burning up and feeling sick and with this news today we thought we had better come and get it checked out," he said.

Legionnaires' disease is a form of pneumonia caused by bacteria in water droplets. It breeds in warm, moist conditions, and in most major outbreaks the source of infection has been water in the air conditioning systems of public buildings.

posted 08-03-2002 01:25 AM               

Mystery virus hits Madagascar

By Jonny Donovan
Antananarivo

A total of 62 people have died in Madagascar following an outbreak of an unidentified viral infection.

The illness, which stuck the village of Ikongo in the central highlands province of Fianarantsoa, has all the symptoms of flu. It has been present in the region for over a week.

Madagascar has just emerged from a violent power struggle which lasted seven months and inflicted long term damage upon the already shaky economy and government infrastructure. The official casualty figures released by the ministry of health of 62 dead resulting from the viral illness is, say sources in the province of Fianarantsoa, not indicative of the real number of victims.

Unidentified illness

The problem is that many people in the region are using traditional methods to treat the virus, believing it to be common flu, instead of seeking medical attention in hospital.

More than 150 people have been successfully treated since the virus struck. The ministry of health has despatched specialist delegations to the area to try to isolate the spread of the illness. However, experts remain unsure about what it is exactly they are treating.

Following the seven-month political dispute and the ensuing economic disruption, great numbers of people can no longer afford to seek modern medical care. Humanitarian aid experts say this will continue to have long-term health consequences for the island's population.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2163884.stm

___________________________________________________________________

Low oxygen causes coastal die-off

07/31/2002

The Associated Press

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Low oxygen levels have caused a sudden die-off of crabs, fish and invertebrates in a small area off Oregon's central coast.

The die-off caught marine biologists and crabbers off-guard, but the phenomenon appears natural and short-lived, said Francis Chan, a researcher at the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans at Oregon State University.

"This was not something that was on any of our radars," Chan said. "It really appears to be unprecedented for the near-shore waters."

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists first noticed the die-off in early July.

Videos from an unmanned submarine three miles off Cape Perpetua showed small dead fish an area normally teaming with large rockfish. Then, a crabber working the area reported pulling up pots containing dead crabs and fish, a highly unusual occurrence. And small numbers of dead fish and other sea life began washing ashore near Seal Rock, between Newport and Waldport.

A team of scientists from Oregon State found exceptionally low oxygen levels in the near-shore ocean.

That area normally contains 8 milligrams to 10 milligrams of oxygen per liter of water, enough for fish, crabs and other marine animals to breathe. But the tests found only 1 milligram to 2 milligrams per liter.

The zone of marine death was not caused by pollution, despite its murky appearance and low-tide scent, said Jane Lubchenco, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State.
She and other scientists instead blamed an unusual combination of ocean currents and weather.

Along most parts of the coast, upwelling this year seems to be occurring normally, with cold water from the deep mixing with oxygen-rich surface water. But the upwelling off Yachats is stopping before it reaches the surface, locking in place a suffocation zone that kills marine life trying to get to oxygenated waters.

Lubchenco said unusually low winds may have caused surface water to move less than normal, preventing it from mixing with upwelling water. "This is an upwelling that gets going and doesn't come to fruition," Lubchenco said. "We haven't seen this before."

[URL=http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/NW_073102ORNoxygen_coastal_die-off.43c69749.html]http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/NW_073102ORNoxygen_coastal_die-off.43c69749.html[/UR L]

__________________________________________________________________

Friday, August 2, 2002. Posted: 14:27:12 (AEDT)

Australia's native birds are dying out: CSIRO

A CSIRO scientist claims half of Australia's native birds, in some areas, could become extinct in the next 50 years because of agricultural practices and urban spread.

Denis Saunders has been researching birdlife across Australia for more than 30 years and has noticed a big drop in the number of species which were once very common.

Dr Saunders says when he started researching black cockatoos in the late 1960s they were considered vermin, today they are listed as an endangered species.

"Our work in south Western Australia, and now people are showing the same thing is true of most of the Murray Darling Basin, that well over half of the bird species that have described from that area are going to disappear probably within the next 50 years," he said.

posted 08-03-2002 09:17 AM            

Federal and state health officials said yesterday that 58 Louisianians had become ill from the West Nile virus in recent days and that four had died. The outbreak of the virus is the largest since it was first detected in the United States, in New York City in 1999.

In addition to the cases in Louisiana, 13 have been reported in the adjacent states of Texas and Mississippi.

The Louisiana outbreak prompted Gov. Mike Foster to declare an emergency yesterday, partly in an effort to obtain millions of dollars in federal aid for local governments that are rapidly using up their mosquito spraying budgets.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent a team of 10 scientists to investigate how widely the virus has spread in Louisiana and elsewhere in the gulf region, and to trap insects and the animals they may have infected. One aim is to determine whether species of mosquitoes not previously identified as transmitters of the virus are in fact spreading it. Such identification would be crucial to controlling the outbreak.

Most people who become ill with West Nile virus suffer only mild flulike symptoms. But a small percentage — mostly older people and those whose immune systems have become impaired by cancer therapy, by H.I.V. or for other reasons — can suffer more serious illness, including meningitis or encephalitis. These inflammations of the brain and its covering can bring serious, long-lasting health problems or even death.

Health officials said they could not explain precisely why the West Nile virus had struck so fiercely in Louisiana and neighboring states. They noted, however, that encephalitis caused by other viruses had long been a significant health problem in the gulf region. The introduction of West Nile into the area only adds to the burden on the health system there.

The virus spread widely elsewhere last year, moving from the Northeast as far south as the Florida Keys and 750 miles to the west of them. In all, it covered an area of about half a million square miles. Sixty-six cases of illness were reported then, from 10 states.

Though the 71 cases reported so far this year — all from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — are little more than the 2001 total, health officials said they were deeply concerned, for two reasons: first, the onset of illness this year occurred relatively early in the summer; second, the illness seems to be afflicting a younger population than the people sickened in the three previous years since the virus's detection.

From 1999 through 2001, when a total of 149 cases were reported in the United States, most were identified from mid-August through September; the earliest onset of illness in those years occurred on July 14.

This year, by contrast, cases were first identified in middle to late June, and have been occurring with increasing frequency ever since.

As for the age groups of the people made ill, the average age of patients in the first two years that West Nile virus caused infections in the United States was about 66, and last year it was 70, said Dr. Stephen M. Ostroff, a senior official of the disease control centers.

This year, on the other hand, the average age in the three affected states has been in the upper 50's. Health officials in Louisiana said that of the 55 patients there whose ages were known, 24 were 60 or older. But 12 were 45 to 59, and 19 were younger still.

There is no way to know, however, whether the age disparity from the previous years' experience will continue. And it is too early to know whether the disparity recorded so far signals any change in the virus.

Of the four people killed in the current outbreak, two were from Baton Rouge, one from Folsom, near the Mississippi line, and one from the town of Iowa, not far from Texas.

The Gulf Coast's natural features will make efforts to control the virus there more difficult than they were in New York and elsewhere.

"Mosquitoes are breeding prolifically at this time" in the gulf region, Dr. Ostroff said in an interview.

"We're just going into the season for encephalitis," he added. "More cases will occur."

Dr. Ostroff said that "even with aggressive measures, the outbreak is not going to come to a screeching halt as it did in New York," and that "control will require a continuing effort for months."

Dr. Ostroff was a leader in the epidemiological investigation of the outbreak in New York, which infected 62 people and killed seven. He said that while he would not advise people to refrain from visiting the Gulf Coast, it was important to keep in mind that groups like the elderly and those with impaired immune systems were at greater risk than others for developing severe illness from West Nile virus.

There is no specific treatment for West Nile other than supportive therapy like intravenous fluids, assistance in breathing with a mechanical ventilator and nursing care to prevent secondary infections like pneumonia.

Many of those infected during the current outbreak have been hospitalized, and some have required treatment in intensive care units, Dr. Ostroff said. A "significant" number of those hospitalized have recovered and gone home, he said.

Federal and Louisiana health officials have advised people in the region to try to avoid mosquito bites by reducing the amount of time they spend outdoors, particularly in early morning and early evening, when the mosquitoes that carry the virus are most likely to bite.

The officials also recommended wearing long pants and loose long-sleeved shirts and applying mosquito repellent to exposed skin. As a further step, they urged residents to help eliminate mosquito breeding sites by draining stagnant water and spraying.

In just three years, West Nile virus has infected 31 species of mosquitoes and 115 species of birds in the United States.

Last year, 27 states and the District of Columbia reported finding West Nile virus in humans or insects and animals. This year, seven states have been added to the list. In the North, the virus has spread as far west as the eastern Dakotas.

posted 08-03-2002 12:41 PM               

10,000 may be infected

West Nile virus infects many, but few fall ill

By MIKE DUNNE
mdunne@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer

While there are 58 known cases of mosquito-borne West Nile virus in Louisiana, one state health official estimated 10,000 to 12,000 other people have been infected, felt no symptoms and are now immune to the disease.

West Nile virus has claimed four lives, two in East Baton Rouge Parish. Twelve of the 58 cases are from East Baton Rouge Parish.

On Tuesday, Dr. Louis Cataldie, the parish's coroner, confirmed the disease caused the death of an 83-year-old woman, and now state officials have added a 75-year-old man to the list.The outbreak in Louisiana will soon be the nation's largest since the disease came to the United States in 1999.

The virus has also begun to spread across the state from the initial outbreak around Lake Pontchartrain with human cases confirmed in Calcasieu, Allen and Ouachita parishes.

Ouachita was the site of an outbreak of St. Louis encephalitis last year that killed four and hospitalized 62 people.State Epidemiologist Raoult Ratard said the state is awaiting lab results on 34 more suspected cases. Some will prove to be other diseases, he said. "There is no sign it is going to go down. This is the beginning," Ratard.

The outbreak could last into October and November, Ratard and other health officials said.David Hood, secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said the "magnitude was greater than we expected."Dr. Roy Campbell, of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "it's not time for panic. It's a time to take action."

If not for the mosquito-control efforts in some parishes, Campbell said the state would see more cases.

The Associated Press reported at least 89 people in three states infected with West Nile, including 44 new cases confirmed Friday.

Mississippi reported a total of 22 cases as of Friday and the rest are from Texas.During a Slidell news conference Friday releasing the latest figures, DHH Regional Medical Director Dr. Erin Brewer said "there are probably 10,000 to 12,000 people who have been infected" but experience no symptoms.

Ratard added "those that are not sick are lucky." He said they should have future immunity from antibodies created as the immune system fought off the infection.

Studies in other outbreaks around the world show that of 200 people, 179 will be infected and feel no symptoms. Another 20 will experience flulike symptoms like fever and headache, called West Nile fever. Only about one victim in 200 infected will develop encephalitis or meningitis, a swelling of the brain or brain lining.

People older than age 50 and those already fighting other diseases are most at risk, officials said. Of the four dead, one was a 53-year-old man from Folsom, and the other three were ages 83, 75 and 72.

Brewer said the best way not to get sick is "avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes." That means wearing long sleeves and pants when outdoors and wearing insect repellent, she said.

Gov. Mike Foster and Baton Rouge Mayor Bobby Simpson have declared states of emergency that they hope will help get additional funding to help combat the outbreak.

State Sen. Tom Schedler, R-Slidell, said he's been working with other state and parish officials to get additional financial resources for mosquito control agencies and other West Nile-related activities.

Schedler, who chairs the Senate's Health and Welfare Committee, said last year Monroe-area local governments spent $3 million fighting the St. Louis encephalitis outbreak and the Legislature's Interim Emergency Board dipped into a special fund to reimburse those agencies $781,000 of their expenses.

Schedler said he thinks there is only $6 million to $7 million in the fund and, based on the projected magnitude of the outbreak, "we could exhaust that pretty easily, although that is not going to happen."St. Tammany Mosquito Control Director Charles Palmisano said he has spent $300,000 to $400,000 more than expected and will soon exhaust his annual $2.5 million budget. His district has set aside money for emergencies and can dip into it, he said.

The East Baton Rouge Mosquito Control and Rodent Abatement District has spent nearly 10 times the money on fogging and spraying this year than was spent in all of 1998, Director Matt Yates said.

CDC's Campbell said he and a team of more than a dozen epidemiologists are looking into the outbreak. "It was detected here last year, but there is no scientific reason it has broken out here," he said."We are wondering why we have not seen more in Florida," Yates said.

Based on other outbreaks, West Nile cases might not stop growing until cool weather sets in October or November, reducing mosquito activity, Campbell said.

Officials say the disease will remain stored in birds over the winter for future outbreaks.

If you or someone in your family have been affected by a West Nile virus infection, we would like to tell your story to our readers.
http://www.theadvocate.com/stories/080302/new_nile001.shtml