West Nile Virus Hits Connecticut

HARTFORD (AP) — Three human cases of West Nile virus have been found in Connecticut, state officials said last Friday.

One victim, an elderly West Haven woman, was in serious condition at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven. The other two victims, who were both in their 60s, were considered milder cases, said state health officials. One is a Fairfield resident and the other is a tourist who spent time in Norwalk and Staten Island, N.Y.

The three victims tested positive in preliminary tests and were the first human cases of West Nile virus this year in Connecticut. A Norwalk woman had a mild case last year and has since recovered.

Additional tests of the three victims will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control for final confirmation.

West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus that emerged in 1999 and was cited in the deaths of seven people in the metropolitan New York area that year and killed one person in that region last year. It was blamed for the death of an elderly woman in Georgia last month.

The virus can be deadly in the elderly or in individuals with compromised immune systems. In most cases, however, people who get infected exhibit flu-like symptoms with a fever, headache, and stiff joints, which go away after a few days. It cannot be transmitted between humans.

Also last Friday, state officials issued a public health alert in the North Stonington – Westerly, R.I., area after a human-biting mosquito tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis in North Stonington.

The EEE virus is considered more dangerous than West Nile, officials said. No human case of EEE virus has ever been recorded in Connecticut.

State officials are asking people to avoid outdoor activities in the Stonington – Westerly area around dawn and dusk. Those who do go outside should wear long sleeves and long pants, officials said.

St Raphael’s officials would not release the name of the acutely ill patient with West Nile virus. The woman, who is in her 70s, entered the hospital Sept 1 after experiencing a high fever, headache, and confusion. She was diagnosed with the disease Friday following results from tests done on blood and spinal fluid.

The likely date of exposure was the last two weeks of August, state health officials said. Doctors do not know where in the state she contracted the virus because she traveled to several places in Connecticut during that time.

“Her age is probably the main thing that caused her to become more seriously ill,” said Dr John Boyce, chief of infectious diseases at St Raphael’s.

Boyce said there is no specific treatment for the virus, but doctors have tried to bring down her fever. The disease has caused her brain to swell, he said. Boyce said it was too early to tell if the patient has suffered brain damage.

Both the Fairfield and West Haven victims contracted the disease in Connecticut. Officials said it was not clear where the third case, confirmed in Norwalk, was contracted. The Fairfield and Norwalk cases have been released from hospitals and are recovering, said health officials.

“We’ve been extremely lucky over the past three summers not to have had human cases of severe illness until now,” said Dr James Hadler, chief of the infectious disease division of the state Department of Public Health.

“The illnesses these three people have suffered demonstrated West Nile Virus can cause serious illness,” he said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection traps mosquitoes in dozens of locations across Connecticut. The virus has turned up this season in the insects, in 105 birds, and in two horses. One horse in Granby recovered; the second, in Stonington, died Friday.

Throughout the summer, the state has urged residents to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Several towns have either sprayed or, like Newtown, used larvicide in mosquito breeding areas to control the population. The state is not spraying but provides money to the individual towns to carry out mosquito control programs, said David Leff, deputy DEP commissioner.

West Haven’s health director, Eric Triffin, said his office would increase its efforts to inform the elderly about how to protect themselves from the virus, now that a resident has become ill.

The city also wants to install more mosquito traps, especially in the victim’s neighborhood near the veterans’ hospital.

The city has put larvicide in catch basins and storm drains all summer to try to kill the virus. Still, several crows have died from the virus in the city.

“Nobody is recommending spraying at this point,” Triffin said. “Spraying you do as a last ditch effort and it is very temporary; it only knocks down adult flying mosquitoes for a few days.”

The threat of mosquito-borne diseases diminishes greatly after the first killing frost.