Beware Disease Carriers That Fly.It almost sounded like a child's nursery school song--the mosquitoes bit the crows, the crows got sick, the mosquitoes bit the sick birds, then bit the humans, who sprayed the pesticide. And the humans got sick, too. The West Nile encephalitis encephalitis (ĕnsĕf'əlī`təs), general term used to describe a diffuse inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, usually of viral origin, often transmitted by mosquitoes, in contrast to a bacterial infection of the meninges outbreak in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of late last summer demonstrated that unusual diseases can flourish, and humans can die given the right conditions. The disease, never before seen in the United States, may well have been brought into the country via infected birds. Carried in the salivary glands salivary glands (săl`əvâr'ē), in humans, three pairs of glands that secrete the alkaline digestive fluid, saliva, into the mouth. of mosquitoes, the illness is transferred to birds when infected bugs bite them. More bugs bite the birds and are infected. Then, they bite people. Generally, West Nile virus West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis. causes a mild disease in humans. It was the elderly who were stricken in this epidemic. In January, the New York Assembly took action to stop transmittal of the virus in its tracks should it emerge again this spring. New York allocated $70,000 for a meeting and further study of the disease and how best to prevent it. The forum drew leading experts from around the country. A total of 59 probable or confirmed cases (including seven deaths) occurred in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and two surrounding counties, according to the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. (CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation ). Sick and dead birds in Connecticut and Maryland also had the virus. It also was found in the tissue of dead horses on Long Island in October. While the disease was running its course, public response to the outbreak was overwhelming--approximately 130,000 calls were made to West Nile hotline. Three hundred thousand cans of a DEET-based insect repellant were distributed by the health department and public safety officials. Dr. James Hughes, director for CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, said that "while we cannot expect to totally prevent the migration of viruses from one part of the world to another, our best efforts should, and do, concentrate on strong surveillance for early detection and response, well-equipped labs and a cadre of public health officials trained and equipped to control and confront viruses." |
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