NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - A 37-year-old man is the latest, and youngest, person
to be infected in the New York area this year with the mosquito-borne
West Nile Virus that causes brain-swelling encephalitis, officials
said Wednesday.
The announcement
by health officials brought to 14 the number of people who have
tested positive for the virus in New York City this year. Starting
in the spring, health officials began an aggressive campaign to
kill mosquitoes and during the summer, authorities sprayed the
city with insecticides.
New York City
Health Commissioner Neal Cohen said at a news conference that
the man lived in Staten Island and had been recovering at home
since being released from the hospital on Sunday after four days
of treatment.
``He is the
youngest this year but last year we had a couple of cases under
16 years old so it is not extraordinary,'' Cohen said. He said
the man was admitted Sept. 27 with encephalitis after experiencing
headaches, muscle weakness and joint pain for several weeks.
An 82-year-old
man in New Jersey died Sept. 14 after being infected with the
virus, the only West Nile-related fatality in the United States
this year. The virus has killed 13 people in Israel this year.
Last year,
the virus appeared in the Western Hemisphere for the first time,
killing seven people and sickening dozens of others in the New
York metropolitan region. Health authorities still do not know
how the virus was transported to the United States.
New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Wednesday that during the winter,
city health officials would meet with Israeli health officials
to learn more about efforts to combat the virus, named after the
region in Uganda where it was first discovered in 1937.
Blood-sucking
mosquitoes spread the virus from infected birds to people. The
elderly and children are the most vulnerable and the virus can
cause brain diseases such as encephalitis and meningitis and at
its worst, lead to paralysis and death.
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