West Nile Virus In The News

CNN published a rather sensational news story about WNV today called "CDC expert gets West Nile bug-literally." I'm not sure what prompted this piece. People stop us all the time and ask us if we have found any WNV so far this year and the answer I always give is no. It's true but not entirely truthful, as the complete answer is that we don't have any data back yet from the blood samples we've collected yet and probably won't until at least the fall, possibly much later in the year. So we don't know what kind of a year this is for WNV in the DC area. The human reports of cases will start coming in long before our data is available, and that will provide an indication of whether it is a hot year for the virus or not. There is considerable year to year variation. This year was unusually cold in the spring, and on the radio this morning I heard we got an inch and a half more rain in June so far than is average for the entire month, but we don't actually know for sure whether this will have an impact on WNV outbreaks or if so, what kind of an impact it would cause, although the colder weather probably would lessen the odds of a major outbreak.

I found the CNN story to be the type of fear mongering health story I particularly despise. While it is true that WNV continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality despite having faded from the limelight, I wouldn't say there is any reason to panic people about the disease. I personally don't even wear mosquito repellent, although my advisor is a fan of the lemon eucalyptus repellent mentioned at the end of the article. I suppose I should wear something as I get a few bites every day, but I'm not terribly worried about it. I think there is a very strong chance I've already been infected through my work with wildlife-- I know my old supervisor and dear friend C tested positive for WNV antibodies several summers ago and she was never sick to my knowledge. Of course it is not surprising she got infected as she works round the clock with wildlife. It is a bit surprising she didn't get sick as I am convinced she is part (or all) corvid in a human body, but that's another story...