WNV Regional & World Update, Aug 2'01

Date: Thu, 2 August 2001
Posted by: Lois Levitan (lcl3@cornell.edu)

Please Note: Our summary is drawn from a scan of US state department of health, environmental conservation, agriculture and/or West Nile Virus websites from AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, ME, MD, MS, NH, NJ, NY (and NYC), NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, VA, and Washington, DC as well as Canada; national USGS CINDI maps and USDA APHIS updates; on-line news (CNN, Washington Post, Miami Herald etc.) and ProMED-mail postings. Our summary is only as complete as the information available to us!

-- Lois Levitan and Rose Kwok, Cornell Environmental Risk Analysis Program

(1) SUMMARY

INTERNATIONALLY, ProMED mail has posted reports this week of outbreaks in Romania and Israel, as well as the US. In Bucharest, ROMANIA, 2 cases of meningoencephalitis had been detected by last Friday (July 27, 2001). The Bucharest area was the site of a significant outbreak in 1996, when 352 people showed acute central nervous system infections, and 17 patients older than 50 years died. (See July 31 WESTNILEVIRUS-L posting for details <http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/wnv/WNV-LArchive/7-31-01b.html>)

In ISRAEL, a 50-year-old male was hospitalized with a high fever and diarrhea, and released after 4 days, later confirmed IgM-positive for West Nile virus. His is the first human case in Israel reported in 2001, but "in 2000 417 clinical cases in humans were diagnosed in Israel, of which 326 (78.1%) were hospitalized and 35 (8.4%) died; all but one of the latter being older than 68." (see #2 below for the full ProMED post; its source is the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv.)

In the UNITED STATES West Nile Virus has been detected for the third year in a row -- in larger numbers and over a wider range than in previous years at the same point in the season. A total of 256 birds have already been detected in 11 states and Washington DC in Year 2001 (CT, FL, GA, MA, MD, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA). By about this time last year WNV had been detected in approximately 90 birds (or in mosquito pools) in 4 states: CT, MA, NJ, NY. By end of the 2000 season it was in 12 states + Washington DC.

The epicenter may be moving south: In New York State at the same time last year 72 WNV-positive birds were reported, as compared with 19 thus far this year, and 25 WNV-positive mosquito pools, as compared with 2 this year. However, in New Jersey, 15 WNV-positive birds were confirmed by Aug 1 2000 as compared with 77 thus far this year.

Keep in mind that these data may also be revealing different reporting schedules, changes in intensity of surveillance, or earlier mosquito emergence in southern states (August is the peak month for Culex pipiens in the northern states).

The most significant new reports this week are from Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

(A) In OHIO, a WNV-positive blue jay was confirmed from 25 miles northeast of Cleveland. This is the first time WNV has been detected in Ohio, and the furthest west the virus has been detected in the US. However, the findings were not surprising since WNV was detected last year nearby in Western PA and New York (see #3 below).

(B) PENNSYLVANIA reported its first WNV-positive crow for this year, from Philadelphia (see #4 below)

(C) Big increase in numbers of WNV-positive birds in NJ - - doubled from 39 reported on July 20 to the 77 reported on July 30, as well as 20 more WNV-positive mosquito pools (total=56).

For last week update, see the July 27 2001 WESTNILEVIRUS-L posting "WNV-1st Human Case '01, Maryland '01 Epicenter, Epidemiology '99." The Environmental Risk Analysis Program's website posts regular updates and WNV-related news: <http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ERAP/WNV>.

(2) WEST NILE VIRUS, HUMAN - ISRAEL
[see also prior ProMed postings http:www.promedmail.org: West Nile virus, human case - Israel 20000901.1469
West Nile virus, human cases - Israel (02) 20000903.1490
West Nile virus, human cases - Israel (08) 20000927.1667]

Date: 1 Aug 2001
From: Arnon Shimshony <isr-agri@dircon.co.uk>
Source: The Israeli daily Maariv, Wed 1 Aug 2001. Byline: Rivkah Freilich and Yossi Mizrachi (translated from Hebrew and abridged) [edited]

Renewed West Nile Virus Activity in Israel

The following report appeared in the Israeli Daily Maariv today. "A 50-year-old male, suffering from high fever and diarrhea, was hospitalized in the Hillel-Yaffe hospital in Hadera; following last year's outbreak of West Nile fever, all fever cases in hospitals are routinely tested for West Nile virus. The positive laboratory results were obtained after the release of the patient.

Dr Alex Leventhal, Head of the Public Health Services in the Israeli Ministry of Health, has indicated that the described case is the first confirmed one this summer, though several dozens of serum samples are sent and tested daily. So far, all of them have been found negative and the current finding is not indicative for future developments. He said that surveillance is being carried out in animals and arthropods, so far without detection of West Nile virus activity."

Arnon Shimshony writes: I have verified the [accuracy of the press report] with the Department of Epidemiology at the Israeli Ministry of Health. The patient (aged 51, from a rural location in the Sharon region) was hospitalized last week and discharged after 4 days. He was found to be IgM-positive for West Nile virus. Though West Nile fever was not suspected clinically, high fever led to his inclusion in the West Nile virus testing scheme.

During the year 2000, 417 clinical cases in humans were diagnosed in Israel, of which 326 (78.1%) were hospitalized and 35 (8.4%) died; all but one of the latter being older than 68.

Vector control and West Nile virus surveillance activities are coordinated in Israel between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture (Veterinary Services), and the Ministry of the Environment.

Arnon Shimshony
Minister Counsellor (Agricultural Affairs) Embassy of Israel
2 Palace Green London W8 4QB <isr-agri@dircon.co.uk>

[ProMED-mail is grateful to Dr. Shimshony for providing us with this information. - Man. Ed. DS]

(3) OHIO: West Nile Virus Detected in Lake County Blue Jay

COLUMBUS: A Lake County blue jay is the first positive indicator that West Nile virus has officially arrived in Ohio, according to state and local health officials. No human cases have been found. While this is the first time West Nile virus, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, has been identified in the state, it is not unexpected.

"This is no surprise. We were expecting West Nile to be found in Ohio this summer, said J. Nick Baird, M.D., director of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). "The State has been preparing for this since last year. The West Nile Virus workgroup developed a plan that includes surveillance, public education, and mosquito control."

The Ohio Department of Health has established a toll-free West Nile Virus information line for general questions from the public at 1-888-411-4142. The line is staffed weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Questions regarding mosquito control or the reporting of dead crows or blue jays should be made to local health departments.

The first confirmed bird incidence of West Nile virus in the state was located in southern Lake County in Concord Township. It was confirmed through testing by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Madison, Wisc., marking the farthest west the virus has been identified, said Dr. Robert McLean, chief of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center.

"It's not very surprising to see the virus continue its spread along the shores of Lake Erie. Last year, a pool of mosquitoes carrying the virus was identified 2 counties away in Erie County, Pennsylvania and positive birds were also found in western New York," McLean said, adding that the bird was likely infected locally and did not fly to Lake County carrying the virus. "Blue jays are short-distance migrants and they generally stay in the same area during the summer breeding season. So we think the bird was infected nearby."

Already, the USGS has tested more than 100 birds from Ohio, but this is the first positive test.

[Full text at http://www.odh.state.oh.us/New/NRls/nr080101.PDF
(4) PENNSYLVANIA:
(Aug. 1) -- Secretary of Health Robert S. Zimmerman Jr. today announced the first West Nile Virus positive bird in Pennsylvania in 2001. A crow, which was collected last week in Philadelphia, was confirmed positive by the Pennsylvania Department of Health Laboratory in Lionville, Chester County.

Since Jan. 1, 2001, the Health department has tested 211 birds, and this is the first to test positive. In addition to the birds, Pennsylvania has tested more than 5,000 mosquito pools, and all those tests have been negative. ...

Last year, West Nile virus was found in 19 counties [in PA]: Bucks; Bradford; Chester; Cumberland; Dauphin; Delaware; Erie; Franklin; Lehigh; Montgomery; Northampton; Philadelphia; Pike; Schuylkill; Susquehanna; Tioga; Union; Wyoming; and York. It was identified in 37 birds, 46 mosquito pools and a horse.

PA website about West Nile virus: www.WestNile.state.pa.us (/newsreleases/).

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