Blood Test For West Nile Sought

Sept. 20, 2002
By Marcella S. Kreiter

The Food and Drug Administration says it is working with blood banks, labs and private firms to try to speed development of a blood test to detect West Nile virus to keep the disease out of the nation's blood supply.

Federal health officials said development of a screening test is a high priority with the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease mounting, although they note chances of contracting West Nile from a blood transfusion remain remote.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday put the death toll nationwide at 89, with the total caseload topping 1,852.

Illinois has been the state hardest hit by the disease. State health officials upped the death toll Friday to 25, three higher than the official CDC total, with the total number of infections at 473. Health officials in Alaska reported their first West Nile case Friday, an Illinois man who became ill 24 hours after arriving from Chicago.

New cases also turned up in Alabama, Minnesota and Arkansas. The first two cases of West Nile also were reported in the Philadelphia area.

Federal health investigators Thursday reported West Nile had been detected in a blood transfusion recipient in Mississippi. FDA spokesman Jesse Goodman said people who are worried about contracting West Nile from blood during elective surgery should postpone operations, stockpile their own blood or ask to have their own blood recovered and recirculated. Goodman said, however, the benefits of transfusions still outweigh the risks, including the risk of West Nile.

Most people develop no or mild flu-like symptoms but West Nile can lead to encephalitis and meningitis. There also have been a handful of cases of extreme muscle weakness and paralysis.

Minnesota natural resources officials Friday cautioned hunters about possible West Nile infections in pheasants, ruffed grouse, ducks and geese. Officials plan to issue regulations advising hunters to use rubber gloves when cleaning game birds as a precaution even though the disease has yet to be confirmed in them in Minnesota.

Similar recommendations are being considered in South Dakota, Ohio and Virginia and by the CDC.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020920-030756-3283r