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[quote]Brother, I presume you mean west nile virus. As it is not seen in UK. I have no personel experience. Taken from their web site. I hope this answers your query.

The West Nile Virus is spreading faster than federal health officials had expected, with the number of cases tripling to at least 164 since last week.

In the latest warning about the rapid advance of the mosquito-borne disease, Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday that this year's tally will likely break last year's record.

State health officials report seven people--all of them elderly _ have died from the virus. Four of the deaths were reported in Colorado, the hardest-hit state.

Health officials had expected the disease to spread this year to all corners of the country, invading Western states previously unscathed. But they appeared somewhat surprised at its speed.

Nationwide, the CDC said at least 164 people in 16 states are infected, compared with 59 a week ago.

West Nile virus rarely kills, and in fact most infected people show no symptoms and thus go uncounted in the tally of cases, experts say. But about 1 in 150 people who get the virus will develop its potentially deadly encephalitis or meningitis. Most often, it affects the elderly. Of its seven victims this year, the youngest was 68.

Some experts blame the outbreak on a wet June and very hot July, which they say provided the perfect summer for mosquitoes.

The CDC is urging people in the 16 states where the virus has appeared to use mosquito repellent, cover arms and legs with clothing and avoid early morning and evening hours when mosquitoes are most active.

Those states are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas.

Since West Nile first entered this country through New York in 1999, health officials have tried everything--mosquito spraying and other control efforts, prevention messages and disease detection systems.

But there's no way to prevent the virus from spreading and there's no way to predict which areas it will strike hardest, said Dr. Sue Montgomery of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

``It's like a viral hurricane.''

Most people who are infected with the virus won't get sick. The CDC says about a fifth of those will develop a fever, headache, body aches and sometimes a rash and swollen lymph glands.

Symptoms for West Nile encephalitis or meningitis include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation and sometimes paralysis.[/quote]

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