CDC Issues West Nile Virus Alert for US East and Gulf Coasts

摘要

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the West Nile virus that killed seven New Yorkers last autumn hasn't gone away. In fact, the federal agency has enlisted state and local health departments in coastal states from Massachusetts to Texas to help prevent outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness. Health organizations are monitoring bird-migration patterns and enhancing their laboratory capacity to identify arbovirus (mosquito-borne) infections. Birds carry the virus and mosquitoes spread it. The virus may cause encephalitis (brain inflammation and swelling) or meningitis (inflammation of the brain lining and spinal cord).