Date: Thu 11 Jan 2001 14:53:01 -0500
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: AP Online, Wed, 10 Jan 2001 19:58 EST [edited]
A Second West Nile Fever Patient Dies in New York
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NEW YORK: An 87-year-old woman who died last month was the second person in
the United States last year to die after contracting West Nile virus
infection, health officials announced on Wed 10 Jan 2001. The woman tested
positive for the mosquito-borne virus on Fri 25 Aug 2000. She had been
hospitalized in a coma since August and died in December, according to a
statement from the city Health Commissioner Dr. Neal L. Cohen.
An 82-year-old New Jersey man died from the virus in September [2000].
A total of 14 New York and 5 New Jersey residents tested positive for the
virus in 2000.
In 1999, 7 people died and 55 others were infected in the New York area
during the first known appearance of the virus in the Western
Hemisphere. Cohen said that: "The latest death serves as an unfortunate
reminder that West Nile virus infection can potentially result in serious
illness, particularly for the elderly."
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The number of human cases recorded during the year 2000 West Nile virus
outbreak in the USA is now 20 with 2 deaths. However, one of the 20 cases
is a woman resident in Connecticut who experienced headache only and does
not meet the full clinical case definition established by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
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