Posted on 09/28/2002 9:14:02 AM PDT by RCW2001
Signs of West Nile virus ( news - web sites) have been found in the breast milk of a Michigan woman who appears to have contracted the virus from a blood transfusion, and federal officials are now investigating whether West Nile could be spread through breast-feeding.
The woman is recovering, and her baby is fine so far, but the new development presents another challenge to scientists as the virus continues its spread.
Officials said they didn't want to alarm women about breast-feeding, which has many benefits to babies and mothers and likely won't turn out to be a major way of spreading the disease compared to mosquito bites or even blood products.
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