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New strain of West Nile virus causes symptoms similar to polio

Infection Control Monitor, August 27, 2004

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to monitor a polio-like form of West Nile virus that has infected more than 30 people in Colorado and possibly others in California, the Monterey (CA) County Herald reports.

This new strain, known as acute flaccid paralysis, or West Nile poliomyelitis, mimics polio and tends to target healthy people in their 30s and 40s. The disease is carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

About 20% of people bitten by an infected insect show flu-like symptoms, while about one in 100 suffer the most severe form of the illness. Meanwhile, doctors treating patients infected with the new strain are unsure whether they will ever recover full use of their limbs.

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