Posted on 09/12/2002 5:56:05 PM PDT by honway
Sen. Leahy: West Nile Outbreak Could Be Terrorism
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., said Thursday that he suspects the recent outbreak of West Nile virus that has killed more than 30 Americans across the nation this summer is the work of terrorists.
"I think we have to ask ourselves, is it a coincidence that we're seeing such an increase in West Nile virus. Or is that something that is being tested as a biological weapon by the terrorists?" Leahy said in an interview with WKDR (Burlington, Vt.) radio host Mark Johnson.
"There are some people who, credibly, feel [the West Nile outbreak] is a test of our defenses and is a biological weapon."
Just as host Johnson attempted to grill the Vermont Democrat on his West Nile theory, the interview was interrupted by coverage of President Bush's address to the United Nations.
"I've never heard anybody mention West Nile virus as being a possible terrorist attack. What makes you say that?" the Vermont radio talker asked.
"It may be coincidence, the sudden increase [of West Nile cases]. Some of the same people who have ...," Leahy began to explain, just as WKDR broke in for coverage of the Bush speech.
Leahy unveiled his concerns about West Nile terrorism while recounting the anthrax attacks of last fall, when his Senate office was targeted by a weapons-grade sample of the deadly bioweapon.
The 1999 Introduction of the West Nile Virus to North America
West Nile has been isolated from pigeons in Egypt, turtledoves in Turkey and wild bird species in Borneo, Cyprus, and Nigeria. Crows experimentially infected with WN showed high mortality. In nature, some crows must survive infection since antibody-positive individuals are often captured. A domestic pigeon infected with WN and showing clinical signs of illness was captured in Egypt. Domestic pigeons are abundant in urban settings and may prove to be particularly important in epidemics such as that observed in NYC during the summer of 1999
County says dead pigeon had West Nile
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 14, 2001
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Hernando County's first case of West Nile virus -- in an animal, not a human -- was confirmed Thursday by the county Health Department.
On Aug. 17, a dead rock dove (a domestic pigeon) found near Mariner and Elgin boulevards in Spring Hill was sent to the Florida Department of Health laboratory for testing, and results came back positive for the West Nile virus.
I appreciate "news".
How many people?
How much territory was effected and in what time interval?
Your doubts are appreciated, and facts to support your doubts would be appreciated even more. For example, do you have any documented cases of a mosquito-borne virus that was completely unknown to exist in the U.S that in three years swept across the country.
A. West Nile virus is a flavivirus commonly found in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East. It is closely related to St. Louis encephalitis virus found in the United States. The virus can infect humans, birds, mosquitoes, horses and some other mammals.
Most WNV infected humans have no symptoms. A small proportion develops mild symptoms that include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash and swollen lymph glands. Less than 1% of infected people develop more severe illness that includes meningitis (inflammation of the spinal cord) or encephalitis. The symptoms of these illnesses can include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, and paralysis. Of the few people that develop encephalitis, a small proportion die but, overall, this is estimated to occur in less than 1 out of 1000 infections.
Old Diseases Defined
This is a list of old diseases and their definitions
that may be helpful to you in your research.
| Acute Mania | Severe insanity |
| Addison's Disease
|
Marked by weakness, loss of weight, low blood pressure, gastrointestinal disturbances and brownish pigmentation of the skin. |
| Ague |
Recurring fever & chills of malarial infection. Also known as "Chill fever", "the Shakes". |
| American Plague | Yellow fever |
| Aphonia | Laryngitis |
| Apthae | Thrush |
| Apoplexy | Paralysis due to stroke |
| Atrophy | Wasting away or diminishing in size |
| Bad Blood | Syphilis |
| Bilious Fever |
A term applied to certain intestinal and malarial fevers. (Typhoid, malaria, hepatitis for elevated temperature) |
| Biliousnes | Jaundice or other symptoms of liver disease |
| Black Fever |
Acute infection with high temperature and dark red skin lesions and high mortailty rate. |
| Blak plague | Bubonic plague |
| Black pox | Black Small pox |
| Blood Poisoning | Bacterial infection; Septicemia |
| Bloody flux | Bloody stools |
| Bloody sweat | Sweating sickness |
| Brain fever | Meningitis or typhus |
| Bright's disease | kidney disease |
| Camp Fever | Typhus |
| Cancer | A malignant and invasive growth or tumor. |
| Canine Madness | Hydrophobia |
| Carditis | Inflammation of the heart wall |
| Catalepsy | Seizures/trances |
| Cerebritis | Inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning |
| Child bed fever | Infection following birth of a child |
| Chin cough | Whooping cough |
| Cholera | Acute sever contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing. |
| Cold plague | Ague |
| Colic |
Paroxysmal pain in the abdomen or bowels. Can occur from disease in the kidney. |
| Congestion |
An excessive accumulation of blood or other fluid in a body part or blood vessel. In congestive fever the internal organs become gorged with blood. |
| Convulsions |
Severe contortion of the body cause by violent, involuntary muscular contractions of the extremities, trunk and head. |
| Congestive chills | Malaria with diarrhea |
| Congestive fever | Malaria |
| Corruption | Infection |
| Crop sickness | Overextended stomach |
| Croup |
Spasmodic laryngitis, marked by episodes of difficult breathing and hoarse metallic cough. |
| Cyanosis | Dark skin color from lack of oxygen in blood. |
| Cystitis | Inflammation of the bladder |
| Day fever | fever lasting one day |
| Domestic illness |
Mental breakdown, depression, Alzheimers, Parkinsons or the after effects of a stroke. |
| Dropsy |
Swelling with the presence of abnormally large amounts of fluid, often caused by kidney or heart disease. |
| Dropsy of the brain | Encephalitis |
| Dry bellyache | Lead poisoning |
| Dysentery | Inflammation of the colon. |
| Eclampsia | A form of toxins in the blood accompanying pregnancy. |
| Edema | Swelling of tissues |
| Edema of lungs | Congestive heart failure, a form of dropsy |
| Emphysema | A chronic irreversible disease of the lungs |
| Encephalitis | Swelling of brain; "sleeping sickness" |
| Epilepsy | A disorder of the nervous system |
| Falling Sickness | Epilepsy |
| Fatty Liver | Cirrhosis of liver |
| Fits | Sudden attack or seizures |
| Flux | Dysentery. |
| French Pox | Venereal disease. Syphilis |
| Gangrene | Death or decay of tissue in a part of the body---usually a limb. |
| Gout |
Any inflammation caused by the formation of crystals of oxalic acid accumulating in the body. |
| Great pox | Syphilis |
| Green fever | Anemia |
| Heart Sickness | Caused by loss of salt from the body. |
| Heat stroke |
Body temperature rises and body does not perspire to reduce temperature. |
| Hives |
A skin eruption of smooth, slightly elevated areas on the skin which is redder or paler than the surrounding skin. A common cause of death of children three years and under. |
| Hydrocephalus | Enlarged head, water on the brain. Dropsy. |
| Impetigo | Contagious skin disease characterized by pustules |
| Infantile paralysis | Polio |
| Inflammation |
Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat and disturbed function of an area of the body. |
| Intestinal colic | Abdominal pain due to improper diet. |
| Jaundice |
Yellow discoloration of the skin, whites of the eyes and mucous membranes, due to an increase of bile pigments in the blood. |
| Kruchhusten | Whooping cough |
| Lockjaw |
Tetanus, a disease in which the jaws become firmly locked together. Untreated, it is fatal in 8 days. |
| Long sickness | Tuberculosis |
| Lung fever | Pneumonia |
| Lung Sickness | Tuberculosis |
| Mania | insanity |
| Membranous Croup | Diphtheria |
| Meningitis |
Inflammation of the meninges characterized by high fever, severe headache, and stiff neck or back muscles. Known as "brain fever". |
| Milk Fever | Disease from drinking contaminated milk. |
| Milk Leg |
A painful swelling of the leg beginning at the ankle and ascending, or at the groin and extending down the thigh. It is usual cause is infection after labor. |
| Milk Sick |
Poising resulting from the drinking of milk produced by a cow who had eaten a plant known as white snake root. |
| Neurasthenia | Neurotic condition |
| Palsy | Paralysis or uncontrolled movement of controlled muscles. |
| Pericariditis | Inflammation of the heart. |
| Phthiriasis | Lice infestation |
| Phthisis | Consumption.---Chronic wasting away. |
| Pleurisy | Inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the chest cavity. |
| Pneumonia | Inflammation of the lungs |
| Rheumatism | Any disorder associated with pain in the joints |
| Rickets | Disease of skeletal system. |
| Scarlet fever | Disease characterized by red rash. |
| Scurvy | Lack of Vitamin C. |
| Septic | Infected. |
| Shakes | Delirium tremors |
| Shaking | Chills, ague |
| Ship's fever | Typhus |
| Small pox | Contagious disease with fever and blisters. |
| Teething |
Often reported as a cause of death in infants. Symptoms were restlessness, convulsions, diarrhea and painful and swollen gums. |
| Tetanus |
An infectious, often-fatal disease caused by a specific bacterium that enters the body through wounds. |
| Thrombosis | Blood clot inside a blood vessel. |
| Thrush |
A disease characterized by whitish spots and ulcers on the membranes of the mouth and tongue cause by a parasitic fungus. |
| Toxemia of pregnancy | Eclampsia |
| Typhoid Fever |
An infectious, often-fatal disease, usually occurring in the summer months--characterized by intestinal inflammation and ulceration. |
| Water on brain | Enlarged head |
| White swelling | Tuberculosis of the bone |
| Winter fever | Pneumonia |
| Womb fever | Infection of the uterus. |
| Worm fit |
Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea. |
| Yellow jacket | Yellow fever |
Leishmaniasis is one of several names for various tropical diseases, which are caused by flagellates of the genus Leishmania. The parasites are transmitted by sandflies, blood-sucking insects of the tropical and subtropical zones. The manifestation of the disease may be visceral (kala-azar), mucocutaneous (American Leishmaniasis) or cutaneous (Aleppo boil). The incubation time varies from several weeks to months. More than 12 million people suffer from the disease, many of them even die as a result of the lack of a successful therapy. The main drawback of the different treatment strategies is the development of antimonial drug resistance in combination with the complicated intravenious administration.
fevers: elevation of body temperature above normal.
Camp: included typhoid and many other diseases; a catch-all phrase. intermittent: recurring fevers; usually malaria was the cause. remittent: usually used to refer to malaria typhoid: a disease characterized by chills, fever, abdominal distention, and an enlarged spleen. yellow: acute infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes in which the symptoms are jaundice, fever, and protein. Has two stages in which delirium and coma could be the results of the second one.
Zdenek Hubálek and Jirí Halouzka ,br> Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
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West Nile virus causes sporadic cases and outbreaks of human and equine disease in Europe (western Mediterranean and southern Russia in 1962-64, Belarus and Ukraine in the 1970s and 1980s, Romania in 1996-97, Czechland in 1997, and Italy in 1998). Environmental factors, including human activities, that enhance population densities of vector mosquitoes (heavy rains followed by floods, irrigation, higher than usual temperature, or formation of ecologic niches that enable mass breeding of mosquitoes) could increase the incidence of West Nile fever.
The 1996-97 outbreak of West Nile fever in and near Bucharest, Romania, with more than 500 clinical cases and a case-fatality rate approaching 10% (1-3), was the largest outbreak of arboviral illness in Europe since the Ockelbo-Pogosta-Karelian fever epidemic caused by Sindbis virus in northern Europe in the 1980s. This latest outbreak reaffirmed that mosquito-borne viral diseases may occur on a mass scale, even in temperate climates.
West Nile virus is a member of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae (4). All known members of this complex (Alfuy, Japanese encephalitis, Kokobera, Koutango, Kunjin, Murray Valley encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, Stratford, Usutu, and West Nile viruses) are transmissible by mosquitoes and many of them can cause febrile, sometimes fatal, illnesses in humans.
West Nile virus was first isolated from the blood of a febrile woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937 (5) and was subsequently isolated from patients, birds, and mosquitoes in Egypt in the early 1950s (6-7). The virus was soon recognized as the most widespread of the flaviviruses, with geographic distribution including Africa and Eurasia. Outside Europe (Figure), the virus has been reported from Algeria, Asian Russia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, Tajikistan, Turkmenia, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Furthermore, West Nile virus antibodies have been detected in human sera from Armenia, Borneo, China, Georgia, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey (8-10). Kunjin virus is closely related to West Nile virus (11,12), representing a counterpart or subtype for Australia and Southeast Asia; some West Nile virus seroreactions in Southeast Asia may, in fact, represent antibodies to Kunjin virus.
Hundreds of West Nile fever cases have been described in Israel and South Africa. The largest African epidemic, with approximately 3,000 clinical cases, occurred in an arid region of the Cape Province after heavy rains in 1974 (23). An outbreak with approximately 50 patients, eight of whom died, was described in Algeria in 1994 (1). Other cases or outbreaks have been observed in Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, and in a few European countries.
Thank you for the information. The Romania case seems to be the most serious outbreak of the West Nile virus in a climate comparable to the U.S. climate. Romania is 91,725 square miles, approximately the size of Oregon. If the West Nile virus had been spread across the entire European continent in three years then our current experience would not be unique, however, it did not.
There is little question that West Nile is a naturally occurring virus. The unproven suggestion is that an enemy may have intentionally spread the West Nile virus in the U.S., since there are no historical precedents for a mosquito-borne virus to completely cover the U.S. in three years. Of course there is a first time for everything.
I am not convinced that established migratory bird patterns support the spread in three years, absent intervention. For example, birds do not migrate from New York to Oregon.
1460 Laboratory positive human cases
66 deaths
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