Health Department Biweekly Reports Folder 0066, 2000-2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE CITY OF NEW YORK

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH in~anr D OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER ml AUG 2 1 20M 00- 00696

NEAL L. COHEN, M.O. COMMISSIONER

125 WORTH STREET TEL (212) 788-5261 NEW YORK, NY 10013 FAX (212) 964-0472

August 15, 2000

TO:

FROM: Honorable Joseph J. Lhota Deputy Mayor for Operations cc-- Neal L. Cohen, M.D. Commissioner r "7 '

SUBJECT: Monthly Report — July 2000

CRITICAL EVENTS & EMERGING ISSUES

West Nile Virus Activities On Friday, August 4, the Department announced that a 78 year-old Staten Island man has tested laboratory-positive for West Nile virus (WNV). Serum and spinal fluid samples from the patient were received by the Department on July 27, tested for West Nile virus, and reported as positive on July 28. This represented the first human case of WNV reported in 2000. Testing at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was initially equivocal, but repeat testing was positive. Additional confirmatory test results will be available in another week. The individual became ill with symptoms of meningo-encephalitis (fever, dizziness, light-headedness) on July 20, and was admitted to a local hospital on July 22. The individual was exposed to the virus prior to the City's spraying efforts on Staten Island. After one week in the hospital, the patient was released and is now at home recovering.

In accordance with the Department's Arthropod-borne Disease Surveillance and Control Plan, and in consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the City has been conducting strategic ground-

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