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Article: America's New Plague.(West Nile virus)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- February 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 News World Communications, Inc. 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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Beginning with the first cases in 1999, the mosquito-borne West Nile virus has become established in North America, causing illness and claiming the lives of humans, birds, and other warm-blooded animals.
For those of us who live in the eastern part of the United States, an element of danger now lurks in that quiet summer evening on the beach, by the lake, or around the park pond. Those pesky little mosquitoes that hang around these areas, constantly annoying us for blood meals, may be infected with the West Nile virus--the agent responsible for a new plague in North America.
Transmitted by mosquitoes, this virus has been found to infect humans, horses, ...