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University of Queensland researchers have made a giant leap forward in the race to develop a vaccine for the potentially debilitating West Nile virus. Associate Professor Alex Khromykh, from UQ's School of Molecular & Microbial Sciences, and colleagues have found a way to generate immune response levels comparable to a live virus vaccine, which could also help suffers of other disease such as dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis. “What this means is that our prototype vaccine has the potential to not only be safer but just as effective as live vaccines,” Dr Khromykh said. Dr Khromykh said West Nile virus...

Deadliness of West Nile virus explained 22 August 2007 NewScientist.com news service A single genetic mutation might explain why West Nile virus has, within a decade, switched from causing relatively mild infections in humans to outbreaks of deadly encephalitis. The virus, which can pass to humans via mosquitoes that feed on infected birds, didn't pose a serious threat until the mid-1990s, when outbreaks of deadly infection sprang up in Israel, Romania, Russia and eventually North America. Aaron Brault and colleagues at the University of California, Davis, discovered that these new strains have in common a mutation in the gene for...

West Nile Virus Decimates Suburban Birds WASHINGTON - Birds that once flourished in suburban skies, including robins, bluebirds and crows, have been devastated by West Nile virus, a study found. Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study. The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been known anecdotally.

Noisy Spring Avoiding the West Nile virus. By Henry I. Miller The six-year-old U.S. outbreak of West Nile virus is a significant threat to public health and shows no signs of abating. Last year, there were more than 2,500 serious cases and 100 deaths. Though still early in the West Nile virus season (there is a time lag during which animals are infected, mosquitoes convey the virus to humans, and the virus incubates until symptoms occur), this year the mosquito-borne virus has been found in animal hosts (primarily birds) in 39 states, and has caused more than a hundred serious...

"An elderly Fresno County man is the third person in the state to die from complications of West Nile virus this year."

County Takes West Nile Fight To The Air Aerial Spraying Over Sacramento To Begin Monday Night POSTED: 6:56 am PDT August 8, 2005 UPDATED: 6:44 pm PDT August 8, 2005 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento Vector Control officials Monday will begin aerial spraying over a large part of Sacramento County in an effort to fight mosquitoes and the West Nile virus. A 71,000-acre area from Interstate 5 to Citrus Heights will be sprayed beginning at 8 p.m. The spraying is expected to last until midnight. The pesticide that will be sprayed is a pyrethins, derived from chrysanthemums. It is the same...

West Nile warning in Citrus Heights Residents are being urged to 'fight the bite' of infected mosquitoes, but City Council members downplay the risk. By Edgar Sanchez -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, July 30, 2005 Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1 Get weekday updates of Sacramento Bee headlines and breaking news. Sign up here. An alert has been issued in Citrus Heights in response to what an official called a "significant outbreak" of West Nile virus found in mosquitoes.

It's 'like nothing we've ever seen before,' O.C. official says. West Nile virus is making a powerful, early showing in Orange County birds this season, possibly signaling an unusually large burst of virus- carrying mosquitoes that was fueled by winter rains. Fourteen dead birds have tested positive for the disease since January. In some bird tissues, infection was so massive that cellular staining used to detect the virus in the laboratory, normally visible only under a microscope, could be seen with the naked eye.

Notwithstanding former President Jimmy Carter's recent statement to the contrary, Undersecretary of State John Bolton's remarks about Cuba's biological weapons capabilities underscore lingering concerns with the rogue island only 90 miles from the United States. Bolton, on May 6, told an audience at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation that the U.S. is suspicious about Cuban biomedical laboratories and their ability to transfer biological weapons technology to Iraq, Syria and Libya, all countries that Cuban President Fidel Castro visited last year. Bolton also made remarks, which may be interpreted as a clear signal of hardening State Department policy toward Cuba, faulting...

Bioterrorism has been in the minds of millions of Americans ever since the 'anthrax letters' were sent just after 9/11. Unlike conventional terrorism, where a bomb blast is a clear sign that something has happened, biowarfare methods such as spraying viruses into the air or polluting water sources are silent and often leave no visible trace. How do we know if something has happened, and, more importantly, what do we do about it? Israeli scientists are coming up with answers from several different angles.

L.A. hit hard by West Nile virus Article Published: Friday, October 15, 2004 - 8:58:29 PM PST By Troy Anderson Staff Writer As the West Nile virus season winds down, health experts say the mosquito-borne disease caused far more serious health problems than initially expected, especially among an alarming number of healthy, young and middle-age adults. While experts originally were most concerned about the potential for deaths among the elderly and those with immune deficiencies, they now say the virus also caused paralysis and other serious neurological complications among a significant number of people who were expected to suffer little...

Environmental ideology demands opposition to DDT despite the millions of malaria deaths its use could prevent. The West Nile virus deaths being reported across North America are a grim echo of a larger tragedy. Each year a million lives are taken worldwide by another mosquito-borne killer: malaria. Though nearly eradicated decades ago, malaria has resurged with a vengeance. But the real tragedy is that its horrific death toll is largely preventable. The most effective agent of mosquito control, the pesticide DDT, has been essentially discarded--discarded based not on scientific concerns about its safety, but on environmental dogma. The environmental crusade...

Today I saw a black bird fall dead from the sky. I was pulling into the Pet Smart parking lot right there next to the Reliant Stadium when something in the sky caught my eye. It fell for quite a ways and hit the parking lot. I pulled up to it and it was a black bird. I think they call them ravens here. Anyway, there were no power lines or anything anywhere above the bird, so it must have died while flying in mid-air. The first thing I thought of was West Nile virus. The only other thing I...

While health officials reported this week West Nile virus has sickened 108 people in 10 states this summer, they continue to withhold opinions on how, where and why the mosquito-born disease originated. Maybe, say some U.S. intelligence sources of Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, that's because they know. The Centers for Disease Control gave samples of West Nile virus – among other deadly biological agents – to Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1980s. Some national security sources – as well as health professionals – believe Saddam Hussein weaponized those samples and sent them back to the United States, via his ally...

Officials await tests to confirm possibility of new West Nile Cases in Kern County: State announces first horse infection in Kern.

U.S. officials warn of new mosquito disease Associated Press Atlanta — As if West Nile virus were not bad enough, U.S. health officials are now on the lookout for another mosquito-borne disease, fearing it could become a permanent part of the U.S. landscape if it entered the country. Rift Valley fever, which originated in Africa, is the only disease at the top of both human health and agriculture lists of dangerous diseases. The virus can kill people, with a near 1-per-cent mortality rate, making it deadlier than West Nile. Rift Valley also poses a greater threat to cattle and sheep....

Panel wonders if West Nile is bioterrorism, Diana Washington Valdez El Paso Times -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is West Nile virus bioterror? The U.S.-Mexico Border Commission plans to take up as one of its topics later this year the West Nile virus. Dr. Laurance Nickey, one of the commissioners, said experts are projecting a favorable season for the mosquito that transmits the virus. It is intriguing that the Centers for Disease Control says on its Web site that the virus was not detected in the Western Hemisphere until 1999, when it hit New York City. Before that, the CDC reports, the virus was...

<p>The WHO says the Singapore case poses a 'low risk' to general public health.</p> <p>SINGAPORE -- Singapore authorities say a 27-year-old man has SARS, the world's first case since a global outbreak was declared over in July.</p> <p>Singaporean officials confirmed the laboratory technician had SARS after results from a second test were released Tuesday, and have ordered 25 people who have been in contact with the man to stay at home.</p>

Weekly cases of West Nile Virus are being reported from around the country. These media reports often mention that only the very old may die from the dreaded virus. Is this meant to reassure us – only Grandma and Grandpa may die? Taken in a larger context it is apparent that the human death toll from environmental policies continues to mount while the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" and "Dallas Morning News" lecture us on riding the train and the bus. The US is in the midst of a nationwide virus epidemic from disease-carrying mosquitoes because misinformed or timid politicians refuse to...

<p>DENVER - A 67-year-old woman has died of the West Nile virus in Colorado, bringing to five the number of fatalities in the state hardest hit by the bug this year.</p> <p>Colorado, which had a dozen human cases last year, leads the nation with 166 so far this year, according to state officials.</p>

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey health officials were awaiting test results Tuesday to determine if a child from the state is infected with monkeypox. The 11-year-old boy came into contact with a pair of prairie dogs while visiting a family friend in a Midwestern state where the infection has spread, state officials said. Results on blood and lesion samples from the boy sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected in several days. Nationally, health officials were working to contain the spread of the monkeypox virus, which is related to smallpox and apparently has never before...

Health officials are investigating at least 29 suspected cases of people in three Midwestern states who may have been stricken in the outbreak so far, which state and federal health officials are urgently working to contain. State and federal authorities are tracing about 200 animals that were distributed in 15 states by an exotic pet dealer in Illinois. The dealer sold rodents known as prairie dogs, which are believed to be the source of the outbreak. In addition to trying to prevent more infections, officials are worried that the animals could spread the disease to wild rabbits and other indigenous...

<p>The first mosquitoes of the year infected with the West Nile virus have been found on the Far Southside, and health officials say they're worried the discovery -- nearly two months earlier than last year -- could bode ill for the rest of the year.</p>

OTTAWA - Canadian health authorities are worried an outbreak of West Nile virus infection in Louisiana, which has killed four of 58 infected people, could mean the mosquito-borne illness is changing the way it spreads. "Something seems peculiar about Louisiana with such a large number of human cases," said Harvey Artsob, head of zoonotic diseases at Health Canada. "It's important for us to understand why, so that all our messages of reassurance in other parts of North America still hold. What's changed in Louisiana?" As Canadians head to summer cottages this weekend, the official government message remains that West Nile...

Thursday, May 29, 2003 West Nile Virus could be “bigger than sars” in 2003 BOSTON — West Nile Virus, which sickened 4,156 people and resulted in 284 deaths in North America last year, could end up in 2003 having a considerably bigger human and non-human impact than that seen to date with SARS, according to two Harvard experts. The pair indicated that the Plains, western states and Alaska may be particularly susceptible to 2002-like West Nile Virus conditions, which already are at alarming levels in Central and Latin America. Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of the Harvard Medical School...

Scientists have discovered the same genetic mutation in 11 types of West Nile- and malaria-spreading mosquitoes — a mutation that may explain their growing immunity to insecticides. The findings could give chemical companies a molecular target for new insecticides to combat mosquitoes no longer kept in check by existing chemicals.French scientists who discovered the mutation in the ace-1 gene said it appears to endow the mosquitoes with an immunity to two potent chemicals that cause a fatal paralysis in other mosquitoes. Researchers from the University of Montpellier II, in Montpellier, France, found the mutated gene in 10 insecticide-resistant strains of...

Activists protest use of pesticides against West Nile OTTAWA (CP) — A new coalition is calling for a non-toxic strategy to deal with the West Nile virus, warning that chemical pesticides will do more harm than good. Spraying chemicals such as malathion to kill adult mosquitoes doesn't reduce their populations for more than a few days, Meg Sears of the Canadian Coalition for Health and Environment told a news conference today. "When you spray mosquitoes with malathion you have a very temporary lull in the mosquito population and the population comes back in three or four days," she said. "In...

<p>FORT COLLINS, Colorado (AP) -- Giant beakers filled with blood clutter countertops and extra refrigerators cramp the hallways at the federal government's main research center for West Nile virus.</p> <p>Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have had to sharply shift the focus of their work toward the sometimes fatal disease that is spreading across most of the country.</p>

First U.S. W. Nile Prenatal Case Reported First Confirmed Case of Prenatal West Nile Virus Infection Reported The Associated Press Print This Page Email This Page See Most Sent • How to Pack Your Bags For Safe Holiday Flying • Denzel Washington Takes On Direct Risk • How Did Oprah Shed Those Pounds? SYRACUSE, N.Y. Dec. 19 — A month-old baby with the West Nile virus was infected before she was born in the country's first documented intrauterine transmission of the disease, according to a report.The case surprised health officials who had believed the disease could not be passed...

<p>WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday he does not plan to be inoculated with the smallpox vaccine and recommends that other Cabinet members not request the inoculation either.</p> <p>"I do not believe it is necessary or should be taking place," he said.</p>

Okay fellow Freepers, don't throw rocks and don't send me any tinfoil beanies. Here's a fair observation and I'm wondering if any of you are making the same observations as I have regarding the strange outbreaks of illnesses across the U.S. It really started to hit me as odd, with West Nile, the cruise ship illness outbreaks,the unexplained deaths of students near Hershey, Pennsylvania, the outbreaks now of antibiotic resistant Strep in Texas and the Marine Corps tragedy in San Diego where one marine has passed away and over 100 Marines have been hospitalized with a potentially life-threatening form of...

<p>Ever since the West Nile virus first reached the United States in 1999, health authorities have assured an anxious public that they could not get sick from contact with dead or dying birds — only from the bite of mosquitoes that carry the virus from birds to people. That's still the official word from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p> <p>Although there remains no scientific proof that sick birds can infect people directly, some scientists and others who work with birds say their experiences suggest otherwise.</p>

West Nile Virus Map - 2002 Terrorist Cell Map-2002

For those following the track and extent of this virus, I just wanted to let you all know a freeper family was affected by this. My husband's uncle passed away a few days ago. He died from West Nile Virus and food poisoning. He was in his 60's and had other health problems, but this is the official cause of death. He does live up near Cleveland and his funeral will be on Saturday. He was the geneologist in my husband's family and had done extensive work to find out their family history. From what I understand Chet was a...

Killing people Posted: October 9, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern Creators Syndicate, Inc. Activists in the environmentalist movement have a callous disregard for people. You say: "What do you mean, Williams? We can't think of a more caring people." First, I'm not talking about sensible people who're concerned about clean air and water. I'm talking about the movement leaders and the politicians they have under their thumbs. Let's look at it. The New York Green Party said in its opposition to pesticide spraying to halt the spread of West Nile disease, "These diseases only kill the old and people whose health...

A vaccine to protect against the mosquito-borne West Nile virus could be available within three years, federal health officials told Congress on Tuesday. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a joint hearing of two Senate committees that the vaccine is still being tested and has successfully undergone pre-clinical trials in lab animals. Acambis, the biotechnology company that developed the vaccine, will begin testing it on people in early 2003, Fauci said. He said the vaccine, modeled after the yellow fever vaccine, would most likely be used to protect the elderly or people with...

U.S. Gave West Nile, Other Viruses, to Iraq The United States supplied Saddam Hussein's Iraq with the West Nile virus, a recently released CDC letter proves. NewsMax.com has obtained a copy of a 1995 letter sent by Dr. David Satcher, then Bill Clinton’s director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Sen. Donald Riegle.(View the actual letter.)< Satcher, who would later become surgeon general, identified in his letter to Riegle the West Nile virus as one of almost two dozen forms of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria and fungi provided by the U.S. to Iraqi labs during the 1980s....

<p>In case reports released yesterday, stunned neurologists in Mississippi and Georgia describe the conditions of four patients suffering from the hobbled limbs, impaired breathing, and fevers that are the hallmark of polio, a disease essentially eradicated in the United States.</p>

The United States supplied Saddam’s Hussein Iraq with the West Nile Virus, a recently released CDC letter proves. NewsMax.com has obtained a copy of a 1995 letter sent by Bill Clinton’s then Director of the the Centers for Disease Control , Dr. David Satcher, to Senator Donald Riegle. (You can view the actual letter by Clicking Here.) Satcher, who would later become Surgeon General, identified the West Nile Virus as one of almost two dozen forms of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria, and fungi provided by the U.S. to Iraqi labs during the 1980s. The sensational revelations adds more weight to allegations...

WHO ARE THE REAL ENVIRO-RACISTS? By KEVIN MARCHMAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 7, 2002 -- ALMOST as soon as birds started dying of West Nile virus in Central Park some three years ago, controversy erupted about whether to use pesticides to counter the deadly threat. Those shouting (and suing) for a "no-spray" policy have been a small, but loud array of self-styled, fringe environmentalists. To them, pesticides are the ultimate evil. They claim a kaleidoscope of ill-defined, unsupported side effects and environmental harm. And they seek a total ban on spraying pest-control products of any kind. Even those that can help minority...

Well, it was just a month or so ago when the local newspaper reported the first case of West Nile Virus in my part of Illinois: McHenry County. The first fatality was a common crow. I've been reading news reports that the number of cases, both in animals and birds, has been expanding rapidly; but haven't been all that upset about it, especially since the disease has been described as being rarely lethal. Well, this morning the kids found a dead crow, lying just a few feet away from the house. The went in and promptly told mom, who told...

West Nile virus apparently has caused six people in Mississippi and Louisiana to develop polio-like paralysis, heightening concern about the rapidly spreading virus, federal health officials reported yesterday. While there have been some previous reports of muscle weakness and paralysis in people infected with the virus, the earlier cases were probably misdiagnosed as a different neurological disease, federal officials said. Now they believe the polio-like syndrome, which has left several victims struggling for their lives on a respirator, may be a direct manifestation of West Nile infection, and they want to alert doctors so they do not misdiagnose patients and...

<p>Alaska has confirmed its first reported case of West Nile virus, in a 77-year-old man from the Chicago suburbs who lies seriously ill in an Anchorage hospital, state health authorities said Wednesday afternoon.</p> <p>The man was bitten by an infected mosquito in Illinois and is not contagious, said officials with the Alaska Division of Public Health. They would not release his name. State officials predicted he will recover.</p>

Here are a few links to basic information about the West Nile Virus currently being so hotly discussed.If you want the more exotic stories- Iraq, Cuba, bioterrorism- use the FR search engine... you'll be unpleasantly surprised! WEB RESULTS   (Showing Results 1 - 51 of 201,700 Matches )    next » Get the Top 10 websites for "west nile virus" 2.  CDC West Nile Virus Home Page - Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID) The West Nile Virus Home Page of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency of the U.S. government. 3.  West Nile Virus West Nile...

14th WEST NILE DISEASE DEATH, 33 NEW CASES REPORTED Radio and TV Public Service Announcements Distributed SPRINGFIELD, IL – Thirty-three new laboratory positive human cases of West Nile disease, including the death of a suburban Cook County man, were announced today by the Illinois Department of Public Health. So far this year, Illinois has reported 346 cases of the mosquito-borne disease and 14 deaths.

West Nile strikes dog, wolf, squirrelsFrom the National DeskPublished 9/18/2002 1:38 PM Researchers at the University of Illinois said Wednesday they have confirmed the first known cases of West Nile virus in a dog but they doubt it means greater likelihood of infection from the mosquito-borne disease.The researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana-Champaign said they found the disease in an 8-year-old Irish setter-golden retriever mix from the Bloomington-Normal area. West Nile also was confirmed in a 3-month-old wolf at the Peoria Zoo and three gray squirrels -- two in Chicago and one in Champaign.John Andrews, director of...

Castro already has used biochemical warfare against South African and UNITA troops. As the Bush administration prepares for war with Iraq a growing threat to its rear flank is being ignored, according to senior officials who believe that Cuba's biological-weapons (BW) program is at more advanced stages than officially is acknowledged. There now are reports that P-4 containment systems used to store the deadliest toxins have been identified at suspected bioweapons labs inside Cuba. A member of the intelligence community expresses concern, but says that an open hearing on this issue would provide "feedback" to Cuba on "how much we...

<p>A Michigan woman contracted the virus before visiting Salem.</p> <p>A 29-year-old Michigan woman has tested positive for the West Nile virus, Oregon health officials said Friday.</p> <p>State lab results confirmed that Heather Aldridge, a Grand Rapids, Mich. resident who was visiting her sister in Salem, has the virus, but officials say she did not contract it in Oregon.</p>

Calif. Woman Positive for West Nile Fri Sep 6, 7:09 PM ET By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California woman has tested positive for the West Nile virus ( news - web sites) in what could be the first human case contracted in the western United States, health officials said Friday in announcing preliminary test results. AP Photo Conclusive results won't be known for another week. However, Los Angeles County health officials were calling it a "probable case of locally acquired West Nile virus infection." The case suggests that the virus may have completed its...

Tests confirmed that a patient in Salem Hospital has the West Nile Virus. Doctors do not believe she contracted the virus in Oregon. http://www.kgw.com