West Nile virus in Louisiana kills four, infects 58

SLIDELL, La. -- An outbreak of West Nile virus has infected 58 Louisiana residents and killed four, prompting the governor to declare an emergency Friday and ask for federal aid for more mosquito spraying across this hot, humid and swampy state.

The West Nile deaths are the first in the country this year and raise the national toll to 22 since 1999, when the mosquito-borne virus was first detected in the United States.

The Lousiana victims were three men, ages 53 to 75, and an 83-year-old woman, all of whom died in the past few weeks, state health officials said. Twelve people remained hospitalized, four in intensive care.

"This is only the beginning," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist.

Gov. Mike Foster declared a statewide emergency, hoping to get $3 million to $5 million in federal money for parishes that are rapidly using up their mosquito-spraying budgets.

"There ought to be some kind of relief. This is an emergency situation," Foster said Thursday on his weekly "Live Mike" radio show.

The virus is carried by mosquitoes that feed on infected birds and other animals. Most people bitten by the infected insects do not get sick, but the virus can cause flu-like symptoms and encephalitis, a potentially fatal swelling of the brain, in the weak and elderly.

Missouri tests

Twenty-two Missourians have been tested for possible exposure to the West Nile virus, but so far, there have been no confirmed human cases here, a state official said Thursday.

Until June, Louisiana's only human West Nile case was last year, in a homeless man in suburban New Orleans. He survived.

Experts said the virus has now spread to virtually every part of watery Louisiana, where mosquitoes are jokingly called the state bird. The outbreak here is the deadliest since the virus killed seven people and hospitalized 55 others in the New York City area in 1999.

Across southeastern Louisiana, people have been putting fresh water in birdbaths and dumping water out of flowerpot saucers to deprive mosquitos of the standing water they need to breed. St. Tammany Parish north of New Orleans has sprayed for mosquitoes every night for the past month, three to four times more often than typical during the summer.

Sales of mosquito traps and insect repellents have been brisk.

Lois Murphy, 76, said her boss at an antiques shop in St. Tammany Parish has made all employees apply insect repellent. "He makes us spray ourselves twice a day," Murphy said.

In Baton Rouge, where police are investigating a string of three slayings, Louisiana State University employee Patty Scuotto said: "The joke around here is, if the serial killer doesn't kill you, the mosquitoes will."

Dr. Roy Campbell, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Louisiana residents are not necessarily at greater risk because of the state's bayous and other mosquito-breeding terrain. The severity of the outbreak depends on the species of mosquito, the climate and other factors, he said.

Wayne Machado, owner of Mosquito Control Inc., said the species that carries the disease usually breeds near homes instead of in swamps.

Since 1999, the virus has been found in more than 30 states and it is spreading south and west, reaching Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and West Virginia this year.

Eight people in Texas and 22 in Mississippi are sick with West Nile encephalitis.

"It will eventually get to all the Western states over time," Campbell said.

Overall, the number of human cases this year has already surpassed the 64 reported last year; 43 were reported in Louisiana and Mississippi on Friday alone.