State raises alert on West Nile virus

A don't-panic warning follows an outbreak among animals in two Florida counties.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 11, 2002

Please walk, do not run, to the mosquito repellent.

That measured warning comes from the Florida Department of Health, which this week reported an outbreak of West Nile virus among animals in two Florida counties but stressed there is no need to panic.

No human cases of the virus have been reported in Florida this year, and people who get it usually experience no symptoms or only mild ones similar to the flu. Fatalities are rare, and usually occur in people 50 years old and older, or in those with weakened immune systems.

A statewide alert issued last year was lifted months ago, and attention on the disease this year has largely been elsewhere, such as Louisiana, where seven have died.

Still, officials said, all Floridians should limit their exposure to mosquitoes.

"We want to make sure everyone in the state is diligent on taking precautionary measures," Bill Parizek, a department of health spokesman, said Friday.

The department has issued a medical alert for Escambia County in the Panhandle and Volusia County on the upper East Coast.

Escambia reported 18 dead birds that tested positive for West Nile, half of which were identified last week. In Volusia, the virus was found in seven horses and 15 "sentinel" chickens used for detecting disease.

An 18-year-old woman from Crescent Beach near St. Augustine was tested for the virus this week after experiencing flulike symptoms, but the state said Friday that those tests were negative.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said it appears the virus is in the United States to stay. Infections have risen since the disease spread west from New York, where it was first seen in 1999, causing seven deaths and 55 cases of severe disease. More than 100 people have been infected this year in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The worst outbreak is in Louisiana, where 85 people have been infected, including seven older people who have died. Effects of the disease can range from flulike symptoms to a swelling of the brain that can cause death.

Last year in Florida, 12 people turned up with the virus but none of those cases were fatal.

"I don't think we want to overstate the situation," CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding said this week. "It's been an evolving problem, so therefore there is a certain sense of urgency. But I don't think we need to send the message there's a crisis."

Gerberding said there is little chance of eliminating the mosquito-borne disease, especially when it spreads to areas with longer summers and warmer water.

In Florida, health officials suggest several ways to manage the threat, including:

-- Avoiding outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are likely to be biting.

-- Eliminating stagnant water in birdbaths, ponds and low-lying areas of lawns.

-- Covering up with shoes, socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outdoors during high mosquito activity.

-- Using mosquito repellents containing DEET, the active chemical ingredient in most repellents sold in the United States.

Mosquito season in Florida ends in late November or early December.

Louisiana death toll at 7

NEW ORLEANS -- The death toll from the worst outbreak of West Nile virus in U.S. history climbed to seven Friday as Louisiana health officials said two more people had died of the mosquito-borne disease.

The governor of Mississippi declared a state of emergency as the number of cases there increased.

The victims were identified as a 76-year-old woman who died Aug. 2 and a 94-year-old woman who died Sunday. Both lived in parishes north of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain, that have reported more than 30 cases of the disease.

The number of cases in Louisiana has risen to 85 and the state is still waiting for test results on 90 blood samples, said Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist. To avoid delaying results for the most seriously ill, Louisiana will test only people who appear to have nervous system infections -- meningitis or encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright