- (AFP) -- West Nile virus has killed four people in a
week in the United States and health experts warned that the US death toll
this year would far outstrip the 284 recorded in 2002.
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- The virus, which only appeared in the United States in
1999, is spreading fast and picking on younger victims, according to experts.
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- The government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) announced that the first deaths of 2003 were reported between July
31 and Wednesday in the states of Alabama, Colorado and Texas, where there
were two deaths.
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- According to the Atlanta-based CDC, 153 cases have been
reported in 15 states so far this year.
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- CDC director Julie Gerberding said the number of cases
had tripled in a week.
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- "The disease is hitting especially hard in new areas
this year," she told a press conference in Atlanta. She urged the
public to take greater precautions against mosquito bites, the main means
of transmission.
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- "We are starting the epidemic with more cases and
more regions," warned Gerberding. "We could see a greater number
of affected people."
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- "We could be in for a very serious affliction this
year."
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- The virus causes flu-like symptoms in most people who
have any symptoms at all. But it can cause a form of encephalitis which
takes its toll on the aged and the infirm. The CDC chief said West Nile
had become much stronger in the United States over the past year.
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- The past week has marked the start of the West Nile season.
There have been 109 new cases reported in 13 states.
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- The median age of those infected this year was 47, down
from 55 last year.
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- Colorado has seen the most cases with 72. Texas has had
19, Louisiana 15 and South Dakota eight, according to the CDC's Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report.
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- Gerberding said the greater number of cases in Colorado
had been expected. "This time last year, Colorado had no sign of West
Nile virus activity. At the end of the season it had. It's not surprising,"
she commented.
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- West Nile has also been detected in 622 dead birds, 191
horses and one dog. Mosquitos at 359 water sources have been found carrying
West Nile.
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- The virus originated in Africa. It was first seen in
the United States in New York though it has quickly spread to the West
Coast.
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- Mosquitos are considered the main carrier but the CDC
has found that it can also be transmitted between humans through blood
and organ transplants.
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- Gerberding said that some blood supplies had already
been withdrawn from blood banks because the virus had been detected. All
the cases of human infection recorded so far this year were through mosquitos,
she said.
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- Eighty percent of those infected only develop a minor
fever which lasts five or six days. One case in 150 leads to a form of
encephalitis which can be fatal.
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- Health experts said the best defence is to use mosquito
repellents on the skin. The CDC has also said that any stagnant water in
gardens, which attract mosquitos, should be eliminated.
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