Vaccination News Home Page

http://www.ecotalk.org/Sep2'02WestNileNews.htm

West Nile Virus -  A Manufactured Crisis

by Lynn Landes 9/2/02

What to do about West Nile? Don't do anything. It has the smell of a manufactured crisis. The news on West Nile is a disturbing combination of hype, confusion, distortion, and omission. Take a look at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website for, "West Nile Virus Update - Current Case Count," and you'll see a startling variation in the incidence of West Nile infections and fatalities from state to state - and even within the same region. It makes me wonder.

On a daily basis TV reporters raise the alarm and breathlessly announce new cases of West Nile, but it's hard to tell if they're talking about fatalities or infections. 

We're told that both children and the elderly are most at risk, when in fact children are the least at risk for the disease, according to the CDC, but most at risk for the toxic effects of pesticides and mosquito repellents. 

Both the CDC and state public health agencies give out general information about the number of victims, but not specific data on individual victims that may shed light on the medical reality of this so-called crisis. 

The virus is characterized as new and dangerous, when it's not significantly different from viruses that have been in the United States for decades. 

West Nile may be a nasty experience for a very few, fatal for an exceedingly rare number, but as diseases go...it's no big deal. There are about 40 different types of mosquitoes that carry viruses that could cause encephalitis. They're common in many parts of the U.S. and breed in places like tire dumps.

So what's unique about West Nile? Not much, according to Dr. Raoult Ratard of the Louisiana Department of Health. He says that, as it affects humans, West Nile is almost indistinguishable from the St. Louis virus, which has been in the U.S. since 1933. Dr. Ratard says that there's no difference between the two viruses regarding their symptoms or rates of infection. Less than 1% of persons infected with the West Nile or St. Louis virus will develop severe illness. On average, St. Louis causes 128 people to be hospitalized every year, although in 1964 that figure went as high as 4,478 cases. In fact, the mortality rate for the St. Louis virus is said to be slightly higher than that for West Nile. 

The St. Louis virus is considered a "permanent resident" of Florida, according to the University of Florida's Cooperative Extension Service. On their website the Extension Service even questions the effectiveness of spraying pesticides, noting that by the time an outbreak has occurred it's already too late. And I doubt anyone sprays pesticides for West Nile in Europe, Africa, Western Asia, or the Middle East where it's common.

Now that's interesting. Florida is a breeding ground for the St. Louis virus and filled to the gills with the elderly, yet only one person has been infected with West Nile according to the CDC, while Louisiana has 205, Mississippi 91, and Illinois 79. Could Florida residents have developed a resistance to both St. Louis and West Nile virus? Or to mosquitoes in general? Or is something else going on?

I've been very curious about the alleged victims of West Nile. So I called the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for more information. 

Incredibly, the CDC press office claims that they don't have information on the exact ages or medical conditions of the alleged fatalities of West Nile, and only the 'mean' age for cases of infection - 51 years old. And that doesn't really jive with press reports that describe victims of infection or fatalities as usually over 70 years of age. The CDC says that reporters have managed to get some details on the victims, but not from the CDC.