West Nile Virus- some basic information--

various links | 09-07-02 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[backhoe]

Here are a few links to basic information about the West Nile Virus currently being so hotly discussed.

If you want the more exotic stories- Iraq, Cuba, bioterrorism- use the FR search engine... you'll be unpleasantly surprised!

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Get the Top 10 websites for "west nile virus"

2.	CDC West Nile Virus Home Page - Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID)
	The West Nile Virus Home Page of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency of the U.S. government.

3.	West Nile Virus
	West Nile Virus If you have come in contact with or have seen suspicious or dead birds, please contact your local Health Department. The following link lists State Health Departments and contact numbe

4.	West Nile Virus - Pennsylvania DOH
	Consult the Pennsylvania Department of Health's West Nile Surveillance Program. Includes a fact sheet and suggestions to reduce individual risk.

5.	West Nile Virus Maps - nationalatlas.gov
	Maps Showing West Nile Virus Distribution 2000 - The National Atlas of the United States of America

[mombonn]

You are a champ!

[backhoe]

I do appreciate the kind words... hopefully, people will educate themselves about this and other threats, and be less inclined to panic, or just turning a deaf ear to it.

[fiftymegaton]

Thanks for the info. I just read in my local paper yesterday that West Nile has been discovered in 11 different places in the county where I live. No human cases yet so that is good news. I thought about wearing pants outside today but it was 89 degrees.

[templar]

Out of curiosity.

To anyone who knows more than I about this virus (which is probably everybody): Why is this disease so frightening? It seems to affect very few people when compared to other common diseases that can kill (like severe flu)?

[Old Professer]

This disease is frightening simply because the vector to humans is the common mosquito; ubiquitous, insidious and invidious and we are defenseless against it.

[curmudgeonII]

Perhaps someone more current in arthropod vector viral infections may care to correct me, but I am under the impression that the West Nile infection is just another equine encephalitis. [I use the term just with caution as these diseases can be quite devastating to those who contract them.]

There are several of these equine encaphalitis infections around which cause a number of infections annually, specifically Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Western Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis Equine Encephalitis and Venezuelean Equine Encephalitis. These diseases are primarily bird to bird infections [carried by mosquitoes] with occasional cases occurring in both horses and humans. The old-fashioned term for these diseases used to be sleeping sickness.

[FryingPan101]

Our headlines in today's paper announced mosquitos testing positive in our town. I've been waiting for such an announcement.

[FreeAtlanta]

Two questions, 1). Can it mutate into something worse? 2). Could an Iraqi agent have set this loose on us?

[Clara Lou]

They've found WNV in mosquitos in our town as well. It's been at least two weeks since it hit the papers. All I can say is that the blue jays are still squawking in the woods along the creek, and the crows are cawing. No one is ill yet, so far as has been reported.

[Clara Lou]

Could an Iraqi agent have set this loose on us?
I'm certainly no expert at all, but it seems to me that there are dozens of other diseases "they" could have released on us. Viruses that cause encephalitis (like St. Louis, which has been around for decades/centuries) actually kill very few people. If WNV mutates, I haven't read about it.

[Alice in Wonderland]

I was in NYC when it first appeared in 1999...I still have some of the bug spray that the City distributed. I wasn't too concerned then; no one knew what it was and it seemed to be centered in a small section of northern Queens.

Last summer, here in Florida, my sister's horse was the first in the county to get the disease...it was front page news. It was a pitiful sight - the horse was stumbling around like a drunken sailor.

It is spreading at an alarmingly fast rate. I'm not going to panic...but, as a caution, I do apply insect repellent when working outside.

[bonesmccoy]

You missed putting my thread up on your list. WHAT'S UP???

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/746284/posts?page=28#28

[bonesmccoy]

most of the time the infection doesn't cause the full-blown, "your-gonna-die" brain infection. Most of the time, it's a more mild illness.

Happy headaches.

[itsahoot]

--we are defenseless against it.--

---

We do have an effective weapon, that we don't use DDT.

[backhoe]

You missed putting my thread up on your list. WHAT'S UP??? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/746284/posts?page=28#28

Fair enough- let's link it:

-http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/746284/posts?page=28#28--

[backhoe]

We do have an effective weapon, that we don't use DDT.

Well, here's my 2 cents on that subject:

West Nile Virus- Bring Back DDT?

100 things you should know about DDT

[pocat]

Thanks, but I believe my chances of being struck by lightning are much greater than contracting West Nile virus.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is SOMETHING behind all of this media hype. Is the CDC up for a congressional funding review or something?

In the meantime, people are freaking out everywhere. My neighbors won't let their daughter outside to play with my daughter after 3pm, because they're petrified by the media-driven hysteria.

[dubyagee]

most of the time the infection doesn't cause the full-blown, "your-gonna-die" brain infection. Most of the time, it's a more mild illness. Happy headaches.

I am not panic prone, but week before last I developed a severe headache and nausea. The nausea only lasted for one evening, but a dull headache and persistant dizziness lasted for about 5 days. I kept making jokes to my family that I had West Nile...but I wasn't entirely joking.

[who knows what evil?]

My understanding is that we are approaching 1000 reported cases of West Nile in the USA. Are there any DOCUMENTED cases of hildren contracting this virus? Futhermore; are there any DOCUMENTED cases of CHILDREN dying from West Nile?