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American Morning
West Nile Virus Again Appears on East Coast
Aired July 20, 2001 - 10:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Health officials are saying for the first time this year they have spotted cases of the West Nile virus in New York City. Officials say the potentially deadly virus was found in a live sparrow and a mosquito pool in Queens but in a -- also in a dead blue jay in Staten Island. Dead crows recently were found with the virus on Long Island.
The West Nile virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The disease is blamed for the deaths of nine people in New York and New Jersey in the last two years.
Causing a lot of concern, this West Nile virus has. It's been detected, actually, all up of down the East Coast, from New Hampshire south to Florida. So where did the virus come from, where might it go next? We're going to put those questions to an expert. Also just ahead we're going to talk about what you can do to protect yourself.
Dr. Andrew Spielman is a professor of the Harvard University School of Public Health and the Center for International Development. He has been studying this for quite a long time. In fact, he authored the book; it is called "Mosquito."
Who better to talk to. Dr. Spielman, good morning, thanks for joining us.
PROF. ANDREW SPIELMAN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: It's very nice being here; good morning.
KAGAN: First tell me, what is West Nile virus, and what happens to you when you get it?
SPIELMAN: Well, it's a virus, of course. It's a mosquito- transmitted virus.
KAGAN: So you get a bite -- but you're bitten by a mosquito. It happens to us all the time. Why is that bite different than all these bites we get all summer long?
SPIELMAN: Well, until 1999, there was no West Nile virus in the United States. It was introduced into New York City then, and has stayed around ever since.
KAGAN: But when you get it, what happens to you? SPIELMAN: Well, usually nothing at all. The vast majority of infections are completely asymptomatic. The infected person is unaware that anything is wrong. A few people, though, manifest signs of illness and some, especially older people, are at risk of death.
So it's a fever, of a flu-like illness with a diffuse rash, a headache and muscle weakness; sometimes extreme generalized muscle weakness, even interfering with breathing. And this would be the cause of death.
KAGAN: So if you feel any of those symptoms, you should go straight to your doctor?
SPIELMAN: Well, the likelihood of any one person acquiring West Nile virus is really very small, on the order of one in 1 million. I would not suggest that that trigger a flood of physician visits at the present time.
KAGAN: How long between the time you're bitten and the time you develop those symptoms?
SPIELMAN: About a week..
KAGAN: About a week. And have you noticed that, with the specific mosquito bite, it looks any different than any other mosquito bite?
SPIELMAN: No; absolutely the same.
KAGAN: And why do you think this is spreading? I know it was just discovered -- a dead bird with -- infected with this virus was discovered here in the state of Georgia within the last week.
SPIELMAN: Yes, well, it's a new virus here in North America. We don't know what the limits of its distribution will be. We know that, here in the Northeast, it's transmitted by the common house mosquito. That's the main mosquito that is in urban areas. However, where it will go, how severe it will eventually be, whether it will return, actually, to places in which it has already been -- all of these issues are unknown, and a very valid cause of wonder.
KAGAN: Wonder and concern. A lot of people would want to know how to protect themselves just even from ordinary mosquito bites. Dr. Andrew Spielman, thank you for telling us a little bit more about West Nile virus.
With more, now, on protection, here is Leon.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right; well, you heard the good doctor there. And we've been hearing other health officials say that there's no real need for people to be alarmed about the West Nile virus. But experts are warning folks to take some steps to decrease their risk of being bitten by mosquitoes. Mosquito repellents may be one of your best and cheapest defenses in doing that.
And joining us now to talk about that is David Heim. He is managing editor for "Consumer Reports" magazine, which actually ranked a number of mosquito repellents.
I am assuming that you all were considering or thinking about West Nile virus when you put together this test, correct?
DAVID HEIM, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Absolutely right. We used a strain of mosquitoes that is similar to the one that carries West Nile virus in our tests. We also ran a separate series of tests with deer ticks, the kind of tick that causes Lyme disease, which is another public health concern in the summertime.
HARRIS: Now this is a totally unscientific question coming from a totally unscientific guy...
HEIM: Welcome to the club.
HARRIS: ... Does a single repellent work for one that works for the other one?
HEIM: In many case, yes. Check the labels on the products you're considering. If it works for mosquitoes as well as for ticks, it will say, "effective against ticks."
HARRIS: All right, now let's look at some of the ones that you did rate. I've got three of them here with me. I've got Off! Skintastic; we've got the Cutter Skinsations; and the Skin-So-Soft, the Avon repellent. Which of the three would you recommend, No. 1?
HEIM: I would recommend any of the products that contain a chemical known by the nickname, which is "deet," D-E-E-T.
HARRIS: OK, I've heard of it.
HEIM: It's a chemical that's been around for 50 years or more. It doesn't kill mosquitoes. But whatever it is about deet, mosquitoes don't like the aroma or something, and they fly away. As a very general rule, the longer it will keep mosquitoes and, in some cases, ticks away. One of those products, the Avon Skin-So-Soft uses a different ingredient...
HARRIS: OK, that's this one here.
HEIM: In our tests it was much less effective than many of the products containing deet.
HARRIS: Is that is right? It was less effective? Substantially so?
HEIM: Well, it's kind of hard to generalize, because our tests were very controlled. And of course, when you're outdoors, you're in a totally uncontrolled situation. If you're down in -- I don't know, south Georgia or someplace where the tick population is -- or the mosquito population is rampant, you may wonder if it's having any effect at all. But if you're somewhere else, it may work just fine.
HARRIS: Yes, I noticed a lot of them, too, have SPF factors on them as well. Is that -- that kills two birds with one stone, but does that one interfere with the other?
HEIM: They don't interfere with each other. It's an extra little bonus to give one company or another a marketing advantage. You can take the SPF, the sunscreen claims, at face value.
HARRIS: Did you rank them all? Which one came out No. 1 in your rankings?
HEIM: The one that worked the best for us is a product sold by mail or on the Web. It's the same product that the U.S. Army uses for its insect repellent, and it goes by the name of 3M UltraThon. It's a time-released product. And when you put it on it will give you, in our tests, anyway, it provided about 12 hours of protection. Worked extremely well.
HARRIS: OK, we'll keep an eye out for that one. We usually go with the one -- whichever one the kids like the least, that's the one that works the best. David Heim, thanks much for your time, and for the good advice this morning. We sure appreciate it.
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