CDC: West Nile doubles again

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — West Nile virus activity has again doubled, now affecting more than 1,400 people in the United States, federal officials said Wednesday.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — West Nile virus activity has again doubled, now affecting more than 1,400 people in the United States, federal officials said Wednesday. Thirty-four states reported a total of 1,442 cases and 21 deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Last week, the agency reported 715 cases and 14 deaths. Colorado and the central United States continue to be the hardest hit. Colorado’s 635 human cases lead the country, followed by 204 cases in South Dakota, 190 in Nebraska and 106 in Texas, the CDC said. Six of the country’s deaths were in Colorado, followed by four in Nebraska. The virus is spread to people or animals by bites from mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds. It rarely kills, but about 1 in 150 people who get it will develop potentially deadly encephalitis or meningitis. To prevent mosquito bites and the spread of West Nile, the CDC urges the public to take steps to rid their yards of pools of standing water that could be used by mosquitoes as breeding grounds, to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants outside and to wear repellent containing DEET before going out. Since the virus first entered the country through New York in 1999, late August through September has been its peak season. Last year’s U.S. season extended through October, with a final total of 4,156 cases of human infection, 284 of them fatal. (Source: CNN, Thursday, August 28, 2003 Posted: 1305 GMT ( 9:05 PM HKT))