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American Morning

Health Workers in Louisiana Investigate Encephalitis Outbreak

Aired August 15, 2001 - 11:13   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: Now to health news. Health workers in Louisiana have a number of encephalitis cases on their hands today. But they're not sure yet if this outbreak is connected to the West Nile Virus.

We have with us our medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta here with us. What's the difference?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, the difference between the two viruses, the St. Louis and the West Nile Virus are very similar. They're both called Flavi viruses. The name itself is not that important. But they both can cause usually just a very mild flu-like symptoms. But in rare cases, about three to 15 percent of the time, especially in the elderly, it can cause encephalitis, inflammation of the brain. We've seen 16 cases now in Louisiana. Seven of them have been confirmed to be a virus and by Friday we should know which it is, either the St. Louis or the West Nile.

And I should add that the epidemiologists down there think it's probably St. Louis. That has been seen in this area of Louisiana before, as recently as 1999. So, you know, we'll know for sure on Friday but right now that's what they think.

KAGAN: But is one more serious than the other? And actually, while we're looking at the mosquito video, that's how you get it, right?

GUPTA: Yes. That's right. Both viruses are transmitted the same way, through mosquito bites. The mosquitoes bite birds and then they get the virus from the birds then they bite human beings.

Here's one big difference between the two.

KAGAN: OK.

GUPTA: The virus will kill the birds with West Nile Virus. They won't kill the birds with St. Louis. And that's important because in a lot of these communities like we saw in New York in 1999, you saw large bird die-offs prior to humans getting infected. So if you see a lot of birds dying in your area...

KAGAN: It's a bad thing.

GUPTA: ... it could be West Nile and it could be the precursor to humans getting infected.

KAGAN: But encephalitis doesn't sound like a good thing to get, either.

GUPTA: It's not, and it can be fatal and this is when it gets serious. Again, people at risk are the elderly and they usually say over 70 or 75. Young children are also at risk. Prevention is still the only and best sort of way of not getting this and, you know, they're all the same things preventing mosquito bites -- wearing long sleeve shirts at night, staying indoors at dusk and dawn, wearing mosquito repellent with DEET, staying away from standing water. Those are the things that the experts are recommending.

KAGAN: Once again we want to clarify the difference between encephalitis and West Nile and we have a graphic here.

GUPTA: Yes, so St. Louis has been around since 1933. West Nile is a relative newcomer to the States, 1999. St. Louis, again, will not kill the birds. West Nile will kill the birds. It's important for a lot of different reasons. West Nile is from Uganda, Africa, and it's really all over the world, whereas St. Louis is really constrained to the Western Hemisphere. So some differences. But the important one is about the birds. The birds will die with the West Nile and not usually with the St. Louis.

KAGAN: And hopefully we avoid all of them, avoid the mosquito bites with the tips we've talked about over and over again this summer.

GUPTA: Absolutely. Yes.

KAGAN: Got it. Sanjay, thank you.

GUPTA: Thank you.

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