West Nile virus confirmed in Chicago burbs (coincidence?)

CHICAGO, May 24 (UPI) -- Illinois public health officials Friday confirmed that a crow found dead in the Chicago suburb of LaGrange tested positive for West Nile virus.

The bird was the third found in the area this month testing positive for the deadly virus that can cause fatal encephalitis in humans.

State Public Health Director Dr. John Lumpkin said the latest infected bird was found May 15.

The virus first appeared in New York in 1999 and has since been detected in 28 states, as far west as Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri.

This year, viral activity has been identified in Florida, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as Illinois. It also has been detected in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The disease first turned up in Illinois last September when two dead crows from the Chicago area tested positive. In all, 138 infected birds have been found in the Chicago metropolitan area and in downstate Crawford County. No human cases have yet been reported in the state.

West Nile virus has been blamed for 149 cases of encephalitis in the United States in the past three years, mostly in the New York area. Eighteen cases have been fatal.

The disease also poses a threat to horses and other animals. It was first isolated in Uganda in 1937 and has been reported elsewhere in Africa as well as the Middle East, west and central Asia and Oceania.

"The virus first appeared in New York in 1999 and has since been detected in 28 states, as far west as Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri."

Salman Pak: In 1985, the CDC sent three shipments of West Nile Fever virus to Iraq for use in medical research. Valerie Kuklenski, "Western Firms Supplied Iraq with Chemical Weapons," UPI, October 2, 1990.

Unspecified Locations: Between 1985-89, US firms exported Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Clostridium botulinum, Histoplasma capsulatam, Brucella melitensis, Clostridium perfringens (gas gangrene), Clostridium tetani (tentanus), Escherichia coli, and "dozens of other pathogenic biological agents," to Iraq. William Blum, "Anthrax for Export: U.S. Companies Sold Iraq the Ingredients for a Witch’s Brew," The Progressive, 4 (April 1998), p. 18.

• The following is a detailed listing of biological materials, provided by the American Type Culture Collection, which were exported to agencies of the government of Iraq pursuant to the issueance of an export licensed by the U.S. Commerce Department:

• Date : May 2, 1986 • Sent To : Ministry of Higher Education, Iraq • Materials Shipped:

• 12. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185) • Batch #01-14-80 (3 each) • G.G. Wright (Fort Detrick) • V770-NP1-R. Bovine Anthrax • Class III pathogen • • 13. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578) • Batch #01-06-78 (2 each) • Class III pathogen

• Date : September 29, 1988 • Sent To : Ministry of Trade, Iraq • Materials Shipped: • • 1. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 240) • Batch # 05-14-63 (3 each) • Class III pathogen • • 2. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 938) • Batch # 1963 (3 each) • Class III pathogen

• 5. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 8705) • Batch # 06-27-62 (3 each) • Class III pathogen • • 8. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 11966) • Batch #05-05-70 (3 each) • Class III pathogen

Just a partial list.

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