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CDC: West Nile spreading faster this year
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- This year's epidemic of West Nile virus infection in humans appears to be outstripping last year's, a top federal health official said Thursday. So far this season, 164 cases of the disease have been identified in 16 states, up from the tally at the same time last year of 112 cases in four states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, reports. "It tells us that we need to really step up the efforts to control mosquitoes and prevent mosquito bites," CDC Director Julie Gerberding told reporters. The CDC's tally of this year's reported cases, which have tripled in number since just last week, includes 72 from Colorado, 19 from Texas, 15 from Louisiana and several each in Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota, she said. At least four people have died. Two died in Texas; the others in Colorado and Alabama, she said. But CDC was having a tough time keeping up with the quickly changing data: Colorado's Web site has posted a fourth West Nile death and 154 cases; Texas is reporting two deaths out of 28 cases. Last year there were 4,156 cases of human infection, 284 of them fatal. Colorado had reported no human cases of the disease at this time last year; so far this year it leads the nation. Coincidentally, the disease agency's center for the study of the West Nile virus is based in Fort Collins. This year, the disease is also tending to affect younger people: the median age of infected people is 45, down from 55 last year, Gerberding said. 'Fight the bite'All of this year's cases have been attributed to mosquito bites, she said, although the virus could be transmitted via blood transfusions or organ donations. In July, the nation's blood banks began screening donations for West Nile. There is no indication the epidemic has peaked, she said. Last year, about two-thirds of new cases (65 percent) occurred in the six weeks after August 7. "That's very concerning to us," she said. "It indicates we're starting an epidemic with more cases in more states affected than last year." Reprising last year's slogan, Gerberding urged people to "fight the bite" by taking steps to rid their yards of pools of standing water that could be used by mosquitoes as breeding grounds, to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants outside and to slather on insecticide containing DEET before going out. Though none of the far-Western states has yet reported West Nile in animals or humans, "no one can be assumed to be exempt," she said. The disease was first identified in the United States during the summer of 1999. The number of infections reported among horses "far outpaces" last year's totals, and more than twice as many samples of mosquitoes are showing evidence of infection, she said. The numbers are changing with stunning speed. Last week, none of the mosquito samples tested in New Jersey was positive; this week all of them were, she said. "The signs indicate that we could be in for a very serious affliction this summer if we don't take efforts to get people to fight the bite." The disease manifests in two primary forms: encephalitis, or swelling of the brain; and fever. Last year's season extended through October. West Nile virus is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Most people who become infected have mild or no symptoms. According to the FDA, an estimated 1 in 150 people infected develop the more severe form of the disease.
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