Re: WNV Draft Article for CfE Newsletter (or wherever)

<x-flowed>Lois, Many thanks for the article. I'm out on leave but will work on
the Fall newsletter in a few weeks. Thanks for the info. I'll check
with you later for any updates.

Candace

>Candace,
>
>sorry to hear about the health stuff. I hope you are now doing
>better. The baby has been a delightful upper--We are having a good
>time and appreciate your good wishes.
>
> Here's a WNV piece. If you end up not using it for a while, you
>should check back in with me because the scenario may well have
>changed.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>For the third year in a row, West Nile Virus has again been detected
>in the United States--in larger numbers and over a wider range than
>by the same date in previous years. By mid-summer 2001, WNV has
>already been detected in 11 US states and Washington DC (as compared
>with 4 states at this time last year and 12 states and Washington DC
>by end of the Year 2000 mosquito season). In Florida an older man
>has become ill (and at least 1 horse), but in other states (CT, FL,
>GA, MA, MD, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA &DC) WNV has thus far been
>detected only in several species of birds and mosquitoes. WNV
>outbreaks have also recently been reported in Romania and Israel,
>where they have led to human illness.
>
>There are signs that the epicenter of WNV activity may be moving
>south, out of NYS where the outbreak was first detected in NYC in
>1999: Although WNV had spread throughout New York State by
>mid-summer last year, involving health and wildlife officials
>state-wide in surveillance, only a fraction as many WNV-positive
>birds (~25%) and mosquito samples (<10%) have been seen thus far
>this year as compared with last. It may, however, be too early to
>judge the extent of WNV activity in NY, since August is the peak
>month for the key vector mosquito species in the northern states and
>these data may also be revealing different reporting schedules,
>changes in intensity of surveillance, or earlier mosquito emergence
>in southern states.
>
>As an unanticipated environmental threat, information about WNV and
>its behavior and significance in the Northeast US ecosystem is
>emerging at a rapid clip, with still unanswered questions and
>controversies about the disease itself and methods to prevent and
>control it. Understanding and appreciating WNV is a
>multidisciplinary challenge-involving such diverse fields as
>entomology, ecology, poultry science, climatology, the military,
>epidemiology, public health, pest control, the international trade
>in used tires, race horses, global warming, risk communication, etc.
>
>Through its comprehensive West Nile Virus website
>(www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP/WNV) and extensive outreach activities,
>Cornell's Environmental Risk Analysis Program has played an
>important role in integrating these issues and in helping the
>public, decision-makers and the media stay abreast of issues related
>to West Nile Virus. Hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of
>people each month have accessed ERAP's "What's Going on with the
>West Nile Virus?" webpages since they went online in Spring 2000,
>looking for the Latest News, an annotated hyperlinked listing of
>Resources for the General Public or using the searchable WNV
>Bibliography of Scientific Literature.
>
>The WESTNILEVIRUS-L email discussion group, moderated by Dr. Lois
>Levitan, ERAP Program Leader, has become an important venue for
>communication and discussion about West Nile Virus, particularly
>regarding policy, risk reduction and public education issues.
>To subscribe (or unsubscribe), send an email request to
><envrisk@cornell.edu>. Archives are posted at:
>http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/risk/WNV-L_ArchiveIndex.html
>
>ERAP has also been promoting risk reduction, most recently in its
>hot-off-the-press, full color 11x17 poster: '"Mosquito Hygiene"
>throughout Life Cycle of Culex Mosquitoes' that shows what these
>mosquitoes look like at each life stage and describes effective
>control measures throughout the life cycle.
>
>
>--
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Lois Levitan, PhD Program Leader
>Environmental Risk Analysis Program
>Center for the Environment
>213 Rice Hall, Cornell University
>Ithaca, New York USA 14853
>
>Phone: (607) 255-4765 Fax: (607) 255-0238
>Email: LCL3@cornell.edu
>
>Program Email: envrisk@cornell.edu
>Web:http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

</x-flowed>
Received on Tue Aug 21 10:51:28 2001