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Article: West Nile virus: legal responses that further environmental health.(SPECIAL REPORT)
- Article from:
- Journal of Environmental Health
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Environmental Health Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
From 1999 to the first half of the present decade, West Nile virus (WNV) has spread throughout the United States. WNV infections among humans increased annually from 1999 to 2003, when they reached a peak of 9,862 reported cases, followed by 2,470 reported cases in 2004 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2004). The number of actual cases over the last five years is likely far higher. For vulnerable individuals (e.g., elderly persons or those with suppressed immune systems), WNV infections can be debilitating or fatal. CDC confirms that at least 88 people died from the disease in 2004 (CDC, 2004). For these reasons, federal, state, and ...