<x-flowed>This will help with the question that I posted last fall in regard to mares.
Thanks for passing on the information!
I did receive one phone call from The Horse (vet science related
publications affiliated with AAEP).
Jeannie Griffiths
Extension Horse Specialist
Dept. of Animal Science
Cornell University
At 10:39 AM 12/19/2002 -0500, Lois Levitan wrote:
>An infant born in November to a woman who contracted WNV while
>pregnant is hospitalized in Syracuse, New York -- one of the only
>known cases of transplacental transmission (Onondaga Co Health Dept
>Commissioner Press Release, December 18, 2002). The following story
>is from the Syracuse morning newspaper. For background, see ERAP's
>WestNileVirus-l listserv postings from Oct 13, 15, and 17, 2002. --
>LCL
>
>
>The Syracuse Post-Standard
>SYRACUSE INFANT GETS WEST NILE FROM MOM
>CDC says it's the first case nationally where the virus was passed
>on to fetus.
>
>December 19, 2002
>By Mark Weiner
>Staff writer
>
>
>A Syracuse newborn has West Nile virus, surprising health officials
>who believed the disease could not be passed from pregnant mothers to
>their children.
>
>The month-old girl, who was treated at Crouse Hospital, is the
>nation's first documented case of intrauterine transmission of West
>Nile, federal health officials plan to announce today.
>
>Although the baby's life is not in danger, the viral infection may
>have caused health problems affecting the infant's central nervous
>system, according to a report from Onondaga County health officials.
>The 20-year-old mother, who was diagnosed with the virus in
>September, is recovering out of the hospital.
>
>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously told
>pregnant women there was no evidence that West Nile, a mosquito-borne
>disease, could be transmitted during pregnancy or birth.
>
>Within the past few months, health officials also discovered the
>virus can be transmitted through a mother's breast milk and through
>blood transfusions.
>
>Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Lloyd Novick, whose
>department notified the CDC of the newborn case, said there is no
>evidence that pregnant women are more susceptible to the virus. The
>CDC has documented six cases of West Nile in pregnant women. None of
>the women or children died.
>
>Novick said all pregnant women should continue to take the same
>precautions as the general public to avoid mosquito bites. He said
>mosquitoes are not a concern this time of year because most are dead
>or inactive in Central New York.
>
>"We're talking about something that is of exceedingly low risk, so we
>would not advise taking any new precautions," Novick said Wednesday.
>
>"We're not recommending screening of pregnant mothers," he said. "But
>since this is the first time this has happened, people have to be
>clinically aware of the possibility in the future."
>
>Federal health officials declined to comment on the case Wednesday.
>Bernadette Burden, a spokeswoman at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, said
>West Nile would be the topic of a national media briefing with its
>doctors today.
>
>New York state health officials are looking closely at the Syracuse
>case but don't plan any immediate change in strategy or advice
>regarding the virus.
>
>"In terms of what this means, it's something we're going to have to
>consider further," said Kristine Smith, spokeswoman for the state
>health department in Albany. "Obviously, we will be looking closely
>at the possible ramifications. During the past year, we have learned
>much more about the possible modes of West Nile virus transmission."
>
>The virus first appeared in North America with a 1999 outbreak in New
>York City. It has continued to spread across the nation, infecting
>people in 40 states this summer. The CDC reported 3,829 cases as of
>Dec. 11, with 225 deaths from the virus nationwide.
>
>New York had 80 cases and five deaths. Illinois (778 cases), Michigan
>(546 cases), Ohio (431 cases) and Louisiana (323 cases) had the
>biggest outbreaks this year.
>
>New York health officials, who were the first in the nation to detect
>transfusion-related cases of the virus this fall, will consider all
>of the new discoveries this winter while reassessing their strategy
>for dealing with the disease.
>
>"These findings are very new, and we want to explore them with
>national experts," Smith said.
>
>"As for recommendations for pregnant women, they would be the same
>for any other person trying to avoid West Nile virus," she said.
>"That's to try to avoid being bitten by a mosquito."
>
>Those concerned about the virus should eliminate standing water on
>their property where mosquitoes can breed, wear long sleeves and
>pants, use repellent and avoid the outdoors at dawn and dusk, Smith
>said.
>
>Novick said the risk to pregnant women is the same as the general
>population. West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected
>mosquito, and can infect people, horses, many types of birds, and
>some other animals.
>
>Most people who are bitten by an infected mosquito will have no
>symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms. On rare occasions, West Nile
>virus can result in severe or fatal illnesses, including
>encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.
>
>There is no evidence to suggest that West Nile virus can be spread
>from person to person or from animal to person. But now health
>officials will have to look closer at the mother-to-child link,
>Novick said.
>
>Late this summer, the CDC and the Michigan Department of Community
>Health investigated the West Nile infection of a woman who received a
>blood transfusion and then became ill with the virus. She breast fed
>her healthy baby.
>
>Although the infant has remained healthy, a blood sample from the
>infant showed antibodies to West Nile, indicating the baby had been
>infected.
>
>"There has been very little experience with pregnancy and West Nile
>virus," Novick said. "Generally, newborns do well with this type of
>infection."
>
>Other cases have been documented of pregnant women who have passed
>viruses similar to West Nile to their babies, Novick said.
>
>Japanese encephalitis and dengue, both mosquito-borne viruses, have
>infected newborns in rare cases in Southeast Asia. Some of those
>children died.
>
>The 20-year-old Syracuse woman lived on the city's Southwest Side
>when she was infected this summer. Health officials declined to
>identify her.
>
>The woman was in her 27th week of pregnancy when she was admitted to
>Crouse Hospital on Aug. 29 with a two-day fever, severe headache,
>blurred vision, vomiting, and abdominal and back pain. The woman was
>released about a week later without her symptoms being attributed to
>West Nile.
>
>When the woman later complained of muscle weakness, a symptom of the
>virus, she was re-admitted to the hospital Sept. 24 and diagnosed
>with West Nile virus. It was the first case in an expectant mother in
>New York state. The woman gave birth in mid-November, carrying the
>baby to full-term.
>
>Tests on her daughter's spinal fluid and the umbilical cord blood
>"revealed there probably was a West Nile virus infection," Novick
>said.
>
>Novick said the child has a number of health complications.
>
>"It's not possible to say definitively whether these complications
>are a result of West Nile virus," he said. "But it's certainly a
>possibility. The child's progress will need to be followed."
>
>
>The woman lived in the same Syracuse neighborhood as a 57-year-old
>man who became ill with the virus on Aug. 27. The man was Central New
>York's first West Nile case in history. Two other Onondaga County
>residents were diagnosed this year.
>
>Health officials focused on the Syracuse neighborhood late in the
>summer, going door to door to eliminate old tires, debris and other
>potential mosquito breeding grounds.
>
>© 2002 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.
>--
>Lois Levitan, PhD Program Leader
>Environmental Risk Analysis Program
>Center for the Environment
>213 Rice Hall, Cornell University
>Ithaca, New York USA 14853-5601
>
>Phone: (607) 255-4765 Fax: (607) 255-0238
>Email: LCL3@cornell.edu
>
>Program Email: envrisk@cornell.edu
>Web:http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>WESTNILEVIRUS-L is an email discussion group for communication
>and discussion about West Nile Virus, particularly regarding policy,
>risk reduction and public education issues. It is moderated by
>Dr. Lois Levitan at Cornell University's Center for the Environment.
>To subscribe (or unsubscribe), send an email request to <envrisk@cornell.edu>.
>Subscribers can post to the group by sending an email to:
>WESTNILEVIRUS-L@cornell.edu. WESTNILEVIRUS-L readers are encouraged
>to submit information from their locale. Archives are posted at:
>http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/WNV/WNV-L_ArchiveIndex.html
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</x-flowed>
Received on Fri Dec 27 10:00:24 2002
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