YahooNews West Nile Outbreak Widens, One Dead Thu Aug 1, 5:04 PM ET By Paul Simao

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Forty-four people have been infected with the West Nile virus in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, the largest outbreak of the rare mosquito-borne disease since it surfaced in New York three years ago, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Louisiana health department said an 83-year-old woman died of the disease earlier this week, potentially the first U.S. fatality this year. Federal officials have not confirmed the death.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been tracking the rapid spread of West Nile, said the outbreak was worrying because most cases in recent years tended to occur at the end of summer or in early autumn.

"These are the earliest cases of West Nile encephalitis that we've seen since its introduction in 1999," Dr. Anthony Marfin, a West Nile expert with the CDC, said in a conference call.

Marfin noted that CDC epidemiologists and other staff were helping health officials in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas develop mosquito-control and public education programs aimed at preventing further cases.

West Nile was common in Africa and Asia for decades but unknown in the Americas until 1999 when an outbreak killed seven people in the New York borough of Queens. It is spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito but is not transmitted from human to human or from birds to humans.

Most people who contract West Nile suffer nothing more than headaches and flu-like symptoms, but the elderly, chronically ill and those with weak immune systems can develop fatal encephalitis and meningitis when infected.

West Nile, which is spread largely through the migration of infected birds, has expanded quickly since its arrival on the U.S. Eastern seaboard. At least 18 people have died of West Nile since 1999.

The virus tends to stop spreading when temperatures fall below 55 degrees F and mosquitoes become dormant, but can spread again when the insects become active in spring and when birds carry it as they migrate.

At least 31 states, stretching from Massachusetts to Texas, and the District of Columbia have reported some West Nile activity in 2002, according to the CDC's latest update on the virus.

Earlier this week, White House officials said a crow found dead at the executive mansion had been infected with virus. Health experts expect the virus to become more widespread in the nation, possibly reaching the West Coast within a year.

The majority of the human cases reported this year have occurred around the Lake Pontchartrain area near New Orleans, a phenomenon that health officials have been unable to explain.

Health experts have noted that the risk of contracting West Nile virus in humans is still extremely low and could be reduced further if people used mosquito repellents, wore long sleeves and pants at night, and eliminated pools of standing water where mosquitoes breed.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

Answers

>majority of the human cases reported this year have occurred around the Lake Pontchartrain area near New Orleans, a phenomenon that health officials have been unable to explain.

Speculations, anyone?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

A larger population of mosquitoes? Smaller population of those creatures that eat mosquitoes?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

If someone had asked me about the likeliest place for WNV to occur around New Orleans, I would have said south of New Orleans, not east around the lake. I know both areas and I can guarantee you a VERY uncomfortable time south of New Orleans and in other swampy areas. There really aren't nearly as many swampy areas around the lake. It's possible the lake is more attractive to birds, although the bayous (that drain the swamps) are home to lots of birds too. I suspect a lake attracts a different kind of bird, perhaps one that's more susceptible to WNV.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

It is in Iowa as of a couple days ago and today they have found something like 15 birds in several counties that have it. And I didn't vaccinate my horses for it :(

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2002

Regurgitated from last forum

ET

Catnip puts bite on mosquitoes By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent (Filed: 28/08/2001)

CATNIP, the herb that sends cats into a state of purring euphoria, is one of the strongest mosquito repellents known to man, a study has shown.

The nepetalactone oil that gives the plant its odour is 10 times more effective than DEET, the chemical used in commercial repellants, researchers at Iowa State University said.

Two years ago the team found that the oil also repelled cockroaches. Catnip, or catmint, is a perennial herb. It is used in tea, as a meat tenderiser and as a folk treatment for cold, cramp, migraine and fever.

It is native to Europe and was cultivated for cats by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Nine out of 10 cats respond to its smell. Some purr and rub up against it, while others become drowsy.

Dr Chris Peterson and Dr Joel Coasts from Iowa tested the plant on yellow fever mosquitoes found in Africa and America.

Groups of 20 mosquitoes were placed in a 2ft glass tube, half of which was treated with nepetalactone, the American Chemical Society was told in Chicago.

After 10 minutes, 20 to 25 per cent of the insects remained on the treated side of the tube. When the test was carried out with DEET, 40 to 45 per cent of mosquitoes remained.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2002