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 An
elderly New Jersey man has become the first victim of
West Nile virus in the United States this year.
New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman announced on Wednesday
that the 82-year-old man had died on September 14. Although
the victim was suffering from other medical problems,
health authorities identified the virus as the principal
cause of death.
West Nile virus is transmitted to humans from birds that
have been bitten by infected mosquitoes. Flu-like symptoms
of the illness include headaches, fever, vomiting, joint
aches and encephalitis-type inflammations of the brain
and its lining. Allen Heimann, a medical officer for Canada's
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, urged residents to wear
long-sleeved clothing, install and repair window screens
and use insect repellent.
The
disease surfaced for the first time in the Western Hemisphere
last year, killing seven people and infecting 55 others
in the New York metropolitan area. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12 people in
New York and four others in New Jersey have been infected
with the virus this year. CDC spokesman Tom Skinner speculated
that the number of infections would drop as cooler temperatures
reduced mosquito populations.
The
virus has been detected in dead birds in Connecticut,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.
Officials in Canada reported last week that they also
had found a dead crow, which is suspected of carrying
the disease, on the Canadian side of the Detroit River.
Israeli
health authorities announced last week that the outbreak
of West Nile virus in that country had reached epidemic
proportions. At least 20 people have died and another
200 have been infected within the past two months. Spraying
programs have been initiated north of Tel Aviv, where
the humid coastal climate fosters the proliferation of
mosquitoes.
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