 |
| E-MAIL: |
|
Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists. Enter your address: |
|
Or: Get a free e-mail account |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
 |
| AsiaNow |
| En Español |
| Em Português |
| Svenska |
| Norge |
| Danmark |
| Italian |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| CNN NETWORKS: |
|
| more networks |
| transcripts |
| SITE INFO: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| ad info |
| jobs |
| WEB SERVICES: |
| health > story page |         |
CDC confirms West Nile virus caused New York deathsOctober 22, 1999 From CNN producer Sheila Steffen NEW YORK (CNN)-- Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the virus responsible for five deaths in the New York metropolitian area is the West Nile. The confirmation was made after tests and analyses were completed at CDC's laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado, health officials said Thursday. When the presence of the virus was discovered early last month in New York, it was identified as St. Louis encephelitis. Further tests proved that diagnosis incorrect, the CDC said. Researchers then said it was a strain of the West Nile virus, which is related to the St. Louis but had never before been seen in the Western Hemisphere. Officials blamed the disease, which is rarely fatal, on the West Nile-like virus because so many closely related strains exist and it was unclear whether this was the real thing. The West Nile-like virus was responsible for bird deaths in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, health officials said. Only now, after many tests and much analysis on these birds was the presence of the West Nile confirmed. A spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the verification "very helpful," and said investigators are continuing to collect and analyze data. "We still have a long way to go" to answer all the questions, she said. RELATEDS AT  :
West Nile-like virus outbreak confirmed in New York RELATED STORIES: TRANSCRIPT: Researchers Worry West Nile Virus May Spread as Birds Fly South RELATED SITES: Columbia University School of Public Health
LATEST HEALTH STORIES: China SARS numbers pass 5,000
|