[EAS]West Nile Virus

pjk pjk at design.eng.yale.edu
Wed Aug 2 20:37:49 EDT 2000


Subject:   West Nile Virus

from
The Scout Report for Science & Engineering
August 2, 2000
Volume 3, Number 24
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sci-eng/current/index.html


The West Nile Virus in North America: General Information, Maps,
FAQs Testing and Control

1. West Nile Virus -- Centers for Disease Control (CDC) [PowerPoint]
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm
2. "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control Announces that Birds
Collected in NYC Test Positive for West Nile-Like Virus," September
1999 -- NYC Department of Health
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/html/public/press99/pr66-924.html
3. West Nile Virus Map
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/virusmap.html
4. Arboviral Encephalitides -- CDC [.pdf]
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/arboinfo.htm
5. "Mosquito Borne Viruses of New Jersey" -- NJ Department of Health
http://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/westnile/arbrochure.pdf
6. Press Release from NJ Department of Health
http://www.state.nj.us/health/news/p00721a.htm
7. The New York City Department of Health West Nile Virus Information
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvhome.html
8. Mosquito Control and West Nile Virus Information -- New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/mosquito/
9. Pesticides and Mosquito Control -- EPA [.pdf]
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/skeeters.htm
10. American Mosquito Control Association
http://www.mosquito.org/mosquito.html
11. "Comprehensive Arthropod-borne Disease Surveillance and Control
Plan 2000" -- NYC Department of Health
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvplan.html
12. Two from the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA):
a. "Toxicology and Environmental Fate of Synthetic Pyrethroids"
http://www.igc.org/panna/resources/_pestis/PESTIS.1996.14.html
b. "Cyfluthrin Fact Sheet"
http://www.igc.org/panna/resources/_pestis/PESTIS.burst.676.html

The West Nile Virus, a mosquito-borne virus that causes encephalitis
in vertebrates, was only found in the Eastern Hemisphere until 1999,
when it was isolated in the northeastern United States. Seven deaths
and several cases of severe illness caused by the virus have raised
concern for public safety in the region. Recently, a special West
Nile virus surveillance program has been funded in seventeen states
and two cities; data are being collected on a weekly basis. This
week's In the News follows the developments in West Nile Virus
detection and control in the United States.

The first resource (1), provided by the Centers for Disease Control's
(CDC's) Division of Vector-Borne Infectious diseases, is the most
comprehensive West Nile Virus information site available so far. The
CDC's West Nile Virus site features a good FAQ page, a color map of
the distribution of encephalitis-causing viruses (including West
Nile) around the world, and a downloadable teaching slide set (MS
PowerPoint). The site is divided into sections dealing with
entomology, virology, and vertebrate ecology; publication lists and
links are also available. The second resource, (2) is the original
press release from the City of New York announcing the earliest
detection of the virus in the Western Hemisphere (it was found in
bird specimens from the Bronx Zoo). Number (3) is a site from the US
Geological Survey featuring maps of the distribution of West Nile
Virus. This site was reviewed in full in the July 19, 2000 _Scout
Report for Science and Engineering_. The Arboviral Encephalitides
site (4) from the CDC concentrates on arthropod-borne viruses
("arboviral"), providing detailed information on the life cycles of
arthropods and the viruses involved. Highlights include a flow chart
of the transmission and maintenance of arboviruses (.pdf), fact
sheets on LaCrosse, Eastern Equine, St. Louis, and Western
Encephalitises, and a computer generated model of the surface of an
alphavirus. The next few sites, (5), (6), (7), and (8) come from
state and federal agencies dealing with the spread of the West Nile
Virus in New York and New Jersey. An important concern raised by the
West Nile Virus outbreak is the effects on human health of pesticide
spraying, used to combat the mosquito-borne virus. Sites (9), (10),
(11), and (12) discuss some of the facts of pesticide spraying (note
that #10 is sponsored by an association of pesticide producers). Both
the EPA and the CDC supply basic information about synthetic
Pyrethroids that are commonly-used against mosquitoes. More detailed
information about Pyrethroids can be found on these two pages from
PANNA (note that this site features only pesticide-alternative
journals): (12a) and (12b). 

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