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CDC: U.S. saw largest West Nile outbreak in 2003

Infection Control Monitor, February 13, 2004

CDC: U.S. saw largest West Nile outbreak in 2003

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2003 the United States suffered its largest outbreak of West Nile virus since the disease first showed up in New York in 1999, the Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA reports.

Although the total number of cases doubled from 2002 to the following year, more people died from West Nile or suffered brain damage in 2002. In 2003, the CDC reported 9,006 cases of the mosquito-borne virus. That is more than double the 4,156 cases from the year before.

In 2002, 284 people died from the virus, 64 more than were reported in 2003. There were 249 more people that suffered some neurological damage in 2002 than in 2003.

In response to the larger number of overall cases, the CDC is providing money to state health departments to help track the virus and educate people on disease prevention for this upcoming season. Mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds, the virus' main host, spread the virus to people.

"We are fully prepared to have another large outbreak," says Lyle Peterson, MD, acting director of the CDC's division of vector-borne diseases. "We can't predict what will happen, so we need to be prepared."

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