U.S. Facing Worst Ever WNV Outbreak

West Nile Cases Surge in Louisiana

Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) have confirmed 53 new human cases of the West Nile infections, marking  145 reported cases and 9 deaths so far this year.

At least 31 of the new cases are neuroinvasive disease, which infects the spinal cord and brain and can lead to death, LDHH reported.

• United States is in the midst of “one of the largest West Nile outbreaks ever seen,” said Dr. Lyle Peterson, director of vector-borne infectious diseases section at CDC.
• About 1,331 reported cases of the disease have occurred in 38 states including about 640 Neuroinvasive disease cases, leading to at least 46 deaths so far this year.
• Nine other states have reported “some activity.”
• Texas, the worst-hit state, has reported 641 cases with 24 deaths so far this year.
• Since 1999, more than 30,000 people in the United States have been infected with West Nile virus. Occasionally, a person infected with the mosquito-borne disease may develop more severe symptoms including  “West Nile encephalitis,” “West Nile meningitis” or “West Nile meningoencephalitis.” CDC reported.
• The 1,331 cases thus far in 2012 is the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to CDC through the third week in August since West Nile virus was first detected in the United States in 1999.
• About 75 percent of the cases have been reported from 5 states (Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Oklahoma) and almost half of all cases have been reported from Texas.
• About 13,000 of the individuals who have been reported as being infected West Nile virus since 1999 have been seriously ill, and more than 1,200 have died, CDC said.

 WNV Infection Causes Kidney Disease

WNV infection causes serious and lasting kidney damage, according to a new report by Baylor College of Medicine. Researchers found that 4 in 10 patients had varying stages of kidney disease caused by WNV infection.

About 45,000 people in Houston area have been infected with the virus, many of whom are unaware of it, the report said.

West Nile virus (WNV) activity reported to ArboNET, by state, United States, 2012 (as of August 21, 2012)

One thousand three hundred thirty-one (1,331) human West Nile virus infections have been reported to CDC ArboNET from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

• See also: State of Emergency Declared in Oregon Due to Wildfire Posted August 18, 2012

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

• South Korea. Reactor No. 1 at the Ulchin nuclear power plant located in South Korea’s North Kyongsang province stopped operating on Thursday for “unknown reasons,” the Yonhap news agency reported.

Related Links

• U.S. Disaster Impact Leaps 24 Folds Posted August 1, 2012
• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

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