Wednesday, September 10, 2003

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The West Nile virus is on track to kill about the same number of Americans this year as it did during 2002, when some 280 died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Fifty-three people have died and more than 2,000 others in 35 states have been infected with the mosquito-borne disease this summer, according to the CDC, which has tracked West Nile since it first surfaced in the Americas in 1999.

The 2002 outbreak killed 284 people and infected about 4,000 others before becoming dormant in the winter.

"The numbers of deaths every day have been roughly the same as last year," Dr. Lyle Petersen, a West Nile virus expert with the Atlanta-based CDC, told Reuters. "If this continues to hold true, we'll end up with about the same number of deaths as we did last year."

Earlier this summer CDC officials warned of signs that the virus was spreading faster this year, prompting fears that the nation could face another record outbreak.

Petersen said it was still too early for Americans to breathe easy because the virus had not passed its traditional peak period, which normally falls during the last two weeks of August and first two weeks of September.

Most people who are bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus suffer nothing more than headaches and flu-like symptoms, but the elderly, chronically ill and those with weak immune systems can develop fatal encephalitis and meningitis when infected.

U.S. health officials have been particularly concerned with the virus' ability to spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants.

It is estimated that up to 200,000 Americans may have been exposed to West Nile since 1999, when it killed seven people in the New York City borough of Queens. An estimated 4.5 million Americans receive blood or blood products annually.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in cooperation with blood banks, laboratories and drug manufacturers has spearheaded development of new tests designed to screen blood for the virus.

The FDA also has issued tougher guidelines on blood donation since last year. The CDC recommends that people drain mosquito-breeding areas in their yards and wear protective clothing and insect repellents containing DEET when outside to avoid contracting West Nile.