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LANSING, Mich., 12:02 p.m. EDT August 16, 2002 - Two men in southeastern Michigan have probable cases of West Nile virus, the state health department announced Friday morning.
The Michigan Department of Community Health held the conference at 11:30 a.m. at the Department of Community Public Health Agency in Lansing. Dr. David Johnson said that tests are still being done on the two victims: an 82-year-old man and a 63-year-old man. No other information was released about the men or where they lived.
Dozens of phone calls have been coming into the Oakland County Health Department and local police departments recently from residents afraid that West Nile virus will spread. Infected mosquitoes carry the virus and can kill many types of birds. Dead birds in a neighborhood may mean that mosquitoes carrying the virus are in the area.
But health officials want to caution the public that dead crows do not spread the disease, even if they die as a result of the virus, Local 4 reported. The disease is passed to humans by the infected mosquitoes, and not everyone who gets bitten gets sick.
West Nile virus can cause inflammation of the brain, known as fatal encephalitis. In most cases, people walk around with the virus and don't know it because their immune systems are strong enough to fight off the virus.
Some may have mild flulike symptoms. Older people and frail people are more susceptible to contracting the serious symptoms.
The virus has proved deadly in Louisiana, where five people have died from the illness and reports that dozens more are infected surfaced Tuesday. The outbreak is the worst ever for a single state, Local 4 reported.
According to the CDC, West Nile virus has claimed nine lives in the United States so far this year -- seven in Louisiana and two in Mississippi -- and infected more than 190 nationwide
LANSING, Mich., 12:02 p.m. EDT August 16, 2002 - Two men in southeastern Michigan have probable cases of West Nile virus, the state health department announced Friday morning.
The Michigan Department of Community Health held the conference at 11:30 a.m. at the Department of Community Public Health Agency in Lansing. Dr. David Johnson said that tests are still being done on the two victims: an 82-year-old man and a 63-year-old man. No other information was released about the men or where they lived.
Dozens of phone calls have been coming into the Oakland County Health Department and local police departments recently from residents afraid that West Nile virus will spread. Infected mosquitoes carry the virus and can kill many types of birds. Dead birds in a neighborhood may mean that mosquitoes carrying the virus are in the area.
But health officials want to caution the public that dead crows do not spread the disease, even if they die as a result of the virus, Local 4 reported. The disease is passed to humans by the infected mosquitoes, and not everyone who gets bitten gets sick.
West Nile virus can cause inflammation of the brain, known as fatal encephalitis. In most cases, people walk around with the virus and don't know it because their immune systems are strong enough to fight off the virus.
Some may have mild flulike symptoms. Older people and frail people are more susceptible to contracting the serious symptoms.
The virus has proved deadly in Louisiana, where five people have died from the illness and reports that dozens more are infected surfaced Tuesday. The outbreak is the worst ever for a single state, Local 4 reported.
According to the CDC, West Nile virus has claimed nine lives in the United States so far this year -- seven in Louisiana and two in Mississippi -- and infected more than 190 nationwide
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