Published Date: 2002-09-12 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> West Nile virus, human - USA (CA) (03): confirmed
Archive Number: 20020912.5286

WEST NILE VIRUS, HUMAN - USA (CA) (03): CONFIRMED
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Date: Thu 12 Sep 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Xinhua News Agency (via COMTEX), Thu 12 Sep 2002 [edited]

California; First West Nile Virus Case Confirmed
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LOS ANGELES: Doctors with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) have confirmed that a woman in Los Angeles County, California,
contracted West Nile virus infection, the NBC TV network reported on Wed 11
Sep 2002. Doctors working at the CDC laboratory said they confirmed the
first human case of the West Nile virus in the western United States by
testing a blood sample. "This virus continues to surprise us," lab director
Duane Gubler said, adding that researchers still have not found the cause
of the illness of the woman, who lived near Los Angeles International
Airport and worked for an air-courier company. The woman was found to have
symptoms consistent with the West Nile virus infection on Fri [6 Sep 2002].
"It's possible, since it was in the area of Los Angeles International
Airport, that the virus came in a mosquito that hitched a ride on a plane."
Gubler said, insisting that [this] is "pure speculation." Migrating birds
could have carried the [virus] north from Central America or Mexico. Under
that scenario, the virus would probably have been detected in sentinel
chickens or horses, he said.
In Colorado, also a state in the western United States, 19 more horses
tested positive for West Nile virus on Tue 10 Sep 2002, bringing the
state-wide equine total to 117. At least 31 of those horses have died,
according to the state agriculture department. But no human cases have been
reported.
The CDC has confirmed 45 human West Nile virus related deaths and 1086
human cases this year. This week, a Houston man visiting relatives in Los
Angeles fell ill in probably the second case of the West Nile virus in
California. However, health officials believe the man was likely bitten by
an infected mosquito in Texas, a southern US state.
--
ProMED-mail
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See Also

West Nile virus, human - USA (CA) (02) 20020909.5265
West Nile virus, human - USA (CA): suspected 20020906.5247
...............mpp/cp/dk

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