Going Where Mosquitoes Are? Get the Buzz on West Nile Virus

When guests check in at any of the 18 Disney-owned hotels at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., they get a newsletter telling them about park operating hours, special attractions and fireworks times. But these days, the welcome packet also includes a letter about the dangers of West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause flu-like symptoms, brain inflammation and, in some cases, death.

As of the Travel section’s press time Tuesday, 50 people in the United States have died of West Nile virus since records started being kept in 1999, according to Bernadette Burden, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control. From 1999 through Sept. 3, 2002, there have been 822 laboratory-confirmed human cases in the U.S., she adds. (Only laboratory-confirmed cases are included in the CDC toll.) The states with the largest numbers of human cases are Louisiana, 205; Illinois, 122; Mississippi, 104; Texas, 43; and Ohio, 40.

Florida is not in the top five, but this is mosquito country. (There is no evidence that people can transmit the disease to others.) Disney resort operators are providing guests information on how to protect themselves, as are the operators of many other tourist facilities.

About 20% of infected persons will develop what is called West Nile fever, with headache, fever and skin rashes. About one in 150 will develop brain or spinal cord inflammation--encephalitis or meningitis.

When the disease is mild, symptoms last only a few days. In more severe cases, the symptoms can last for several weeks. The median age for the disease, now 51, has dropped by nearly 10 years, according to the CDC’s Burden.

The virus is commonly found in Africa, West Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but it surfaced in the United States in 1999 with an outbreak in New York City.

The increasing number of cases has sparked concern among travelers destined for the affected states. For an update on the number of cases state by state, see www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/city_states.htm.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls from travelers asking ‘Is it safe?’ ” says Trudy Horton, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Despite the spread of the virus, the CDC says travelers need not change their plans, within the U.S. or elsewhere, if they take precautions. “Use insect repellent containing DEET [N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide], optimally 35% or higher,” Burden says.

“When possible, wear long-sleeved clothing and long pants, treated with DEET if clothes are very thin. We also encourage people to stay indoors at dawn, dusk and early evening,” when mosquitoes are most active, she says.

For children, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends repellents with a DEET concentration of 10% or less. Its Web page, www.aap.org/family/wnv-excerpt.htm, has additional information.

Burden encourages travelers to keep their distance from stagnant water at zoos and other attractions or to ask the facility’s operators whether the water is changed frequently to minimize mosquito breeding.

Operators of tourist attractions say they are doing more than just reminding guests of the dangers. “We have always had an aggressive mosquito spraying program,” says Rena Callahan, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney World. “Now it is even more intense.”

In Louisiana, travelers to state parks and historic sites are provided with insect repellent free of charge as long as the 540 cases donated by Cutter, a manufacturer of repellents, hold out, Horton says.

Current information on West Nile virus, besides the state-by-state toll, is available on the CDC Web site’s West Nile page, www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm.

Some states have special pages of West Nile information. Louisiana’s, for instance, is at www.FightTheBiteLouisiana.com.

Travelers who are bitten should seek medical help if they have symptoms of West Nile. There is no specific treatment or vaccine, but patients receive supportive treatment such as intravenous fluids.

The CDC’s Burden says experts believe that cases of the virus will soon peak and then drop in numbers, though no one can say for sure. “We’ve got a lot to learn about West Nile virus,” she says.

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Healthy Traveler appears twice a month. Kathleen Doheny can be reached at kathleendoheny@earthlink.net.