WEST NILE VIRUS SURVEILLANCE - ProMED

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Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 22:36:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>
Subject: PRO/AH> West Nile virus surveillance - USA (06)

WEST NILE VIRUS SURVEILLANCE - USA (06)
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A ProMED-mail post
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[1]
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 04:54:59 PDT
From: Andrew Main <loismain@hotmail.com>

West Nile virus in mosquitoes
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West Nile virus has been isolated from _Culex restuans_ mosquitoes in
Connecticut by Dr. John Anderson, Director of the Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station <John.F.Anderson@po.state.ct.us>.

- --
Andrew Main
The American University in Cairo
<andymain@aucegypt.edu>

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[2]
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 11:35:03 -0400
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: The Bergen Record, Saturday, 22 Jul 2000 [edited]

New Jersey's "Active Surveillance" Plan
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County health officers in North Jersey will begin calling all hospitals
weekly to identify patients who might have the West Nile encephalitis
virus, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services said Friday.
State health officials also confirmed that 2 dead crows found in Hudson and
Middlesex counties have tested positive for West Nile [virus?]. This brings
the total of infected dead crows in New Jersey this year to 9, including
the 7 previously identified in Bergen County.

New Jersey's "active surveillance" plan, funded by a $200 000 federal grant
announced in March, will look for potential West Nile cases at hospitals in
Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. The plan supplements
the current "passive" surveillance system that asks doctors and hospitals
to report any possible cases of West Nile to the State Health Department.
No case of West Nile encephalitis has been reported in a human in New
Jersey this year or last year, when the mosquito-borne African virus made
its first appearance in North America, killing 7 people and sickening 62
others in New York.

No-one in New Jersey to date has had symptoms that qualify them to be
tested for West Nile. More than 2 dozen New Jerseyans have been screened by
private laboratories with a test for the closely related St. Louis
encephalitis virus, but results were negative and did not require further
testing, health officials said.

As of Friday, 237 dead crows and 3 pigeons from all 21 counties in New
Jersey have been tested for West Nile [virus?]. Also, 299 blood samples
from sentinel-chicken flocks and 349 mosquito pools in all counties have
tested negative for the virus. A federal team from the Centers for Disease
Control has been collecting mosquitoes and taking blood samples from
sparrows and other live "urban birds" in North Jersey and parts of New
York. It is expected to complete its study by Tuesday or Wednesday, said
Dr. Lyle Petersen, a CDC expert on infectious diseases.

[Byline: Bob Groves]

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[3]
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 11:32:44 -0400
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: New York Post; filed Sat, 22 Jul 2000 [edited]

West Nile Virus Turns Up In Queens and Nassau
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Dead birds or mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus have been
discovered for the first time this year in Queens, Nassau and Connecticut,
officials said yesterday. Mosquitoes will be targeted by spray teams Monday
night and early Tuesday.

This potentially deadly virus, which killed 7 people last year and sickened
62, was found in a blue jay in Douglaston on July 5. In Nassau, the virus
was detected in 2 birds found in Wantagh and Bethpage. And mosquitoes
testing positive for the virus were discovered in Stamford. In the city,
parts of Staten Island - where the virus was detected earlier in the week -
and northeast Queens will be sprayed from 10 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The Staten Island neighborhoods were already doused last Wednesday.
Connecticut officials said they'll begin spraying in a 2-mile radius around
Stamford on Monday night. Nassau officials do not plan spraying unless
mosquitoes - rather than birds - test positive.

New York's spraying program - controversial in some environmental circles -
is not without its problems. The National Park Service, which controls
Gateway National Park on Staten Island, said it has not been asked by the
city for permission to spray. "But we are prepared to give [this
permission]," said spokesman Brian Feeney. The city previously has asked
for permission to drop larvicide in the salt marshes of Jamaica Bay, but
permission was denied because mosquitoes don't breed in salt water, Feeney
said. An environmental-law group [linked with] Robert Kennedy Jr., has
already indicated it intends to seek a temporary restraining order if
spraying is expanded. State Department of Environmental Conservation
officials have been accompanying spray teams - to ensure that pesticides
toxic to fish are not used in lakes, ponds or other wetlands. Mayor
Giuliani said: "We will spray within a 2-mile radius, which is what the
[Centers for Disease Control] approves as the area for spraying if you find
birds that are infected. We will eventually spray the rest of Staten
Island." The mayor said he's aware of concerns by state and federal
officials, but "the reality is the danger to human life is more important
than birds, fish and insects. Otherwise, we're taking a risk with human
life that is not an acceptable risk."

There's at least some good news, city Health Commissioner Neal Cohen said.
"We have extensive trappings for mosquitoes in the city and we have not
identified any [West Nile virus-] positive mosquito pools. Although
[infected] birds have been found, the absence of the virus in mosquito
pools is encouraging."

[Byline: Frankie Edozien, Devlin Barrett and Cathy Burke]

- --
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The virus appears still to be contained within the New York/New
Jersey/Connecticut/Delaware region. Previous alarmist reports of wide
dispersion of the virus are unfounded. Likewise, there are no confirmed
cases of human illness due to infection with West Nile virus. There is
proper concern about the environmental consequences of indiscriminate
application of larvicides where there is no positive evidence of infected
mosquitoes. The sensitivity and reliability of the tests for presence of
virus in the mosquito vectors could have an important influence on the
future course of events. - Mod.CP]
.......................................mpp/cp/es

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End of ProMED Digest V2000 #173
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Received on Tue Jul 25 08:29:54 2000