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CNN Sunday Morning

Four People May Have Contracted West Nile Through Organ Transplants

Aired September 01, 2002 - 10:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more on a new way that the West Nile virus could be spreading. The CDC in Atlanta says that four people may have contracted that virus from transplanted organs. And medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more.
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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): According to media reports, of the four transplant patients who may have received infected organs, three have developed encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, and one has a mild illness.

The patients, two in Georgia, two in Florida, apparently all received organs from one woman who died in a car accident in Georgia in early August. Her kidneys, heart and liver were then donated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, it's unclear whether this woman contracted West Nile from a mosquito bite or from a blood transfusion she received in the emergency room after the accident. Officials do know that her body parts went only to the four patients who have already been identified.

If these reports are true, this would be the first known transmission of West Nile virus by anything other than mosquitoes. However, public health officials emphasize that you cannot get West Nile virus through regular person-to-person contact.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Washington.

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