Subject: Suspected case of West Nile virus - Washington State
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 13:51:26 -0700
From: "Hofmann, Jo" <Jo.Hofmann at DOH.WA.GOV>
To: "WA-Comdis (E-mail)" <wa-comdis at listserv.wa.gov>,"Washington Public
Health Officials List (E-mail)" <WSALPHO at listserv.wa.gov>

Some details regarding our suspected case of West Nile virus infection.

A 34 yo male (not a Washington resident) traveled to Louisiana and was
there
visiting relatives from June 20 until July 18, 2002. While there, he had
repeated exposure to mosquitoes. Around July 10, he developed fever and
a
macular rash; the rash resolved over the next several days, but he
remained
febrile and developed swollen occipital and cervical lymph nodes and
diffuse
myalgias.

He arrived in Washington State July 22 to visit family in Eastern
Washington. He was evaluated by a physician for his symptoms, and given
his
recent travel to Louisiana, the physician sent serum to a reference lab
for
West Nile virus titers: IgM & IgG against WNV were detected, and his
specimens are being forwarded to the CDC for confirmation. The local
health
jurisdiction has been aware and involved in the investigation.

He never developed signs or symptoms of encephalitis or meningitis, and
has
since fully recovered. WNV is not transmitted from person-to-person, and
can
only be acquired through the bite of an infected mosquito.

This is the first case of suspected West Nile virus infection reported
to
Washington State, and the exposure clearly occurred in an area,
Louisiana,
that is currently seeing a large number of cases of WNV. There is
currently
no evidence that there is a reservoir of WNV in Washington State.

Surveillance efforts to identify the appearance of WNV in Washington are
ongoing, and include evaluation of mosquito populations and testing of
dead
birds likely to be infected with WNV.




Jo Hofmann, MD

State Epidemiologist for Communicable Disease
Medical Director, Infectious Disease & Reproductive Health
Washington State Department of Health
1610 NE 150th Street Shoreline, WA 98155
ph 206.361.2831 fax 206.361.2930
beeper 206. 989.7398

*Working to protect and improve the health of the people of Washington
State*

Mark Oberle
2006 23 Ave. East
Seattle, WA 98112-2936
Tel: 206-324-3844
oberle at mindspring.com

http://www.puertoricobirds.com/