West Nile Virus case found in Medford

A 50-year old Medford man is among the four new cases of West Nile virus reported in Massachusetts over the weekend. After infecting hundreds of residents on the Gulf Coast, West Nile has found its way to Tufts' neighborhood.

The Medford man and a 55-year old woman from Revere have fully recovered. An 86-year man from Rosalind, however, has been hospitalized in serious condition, the state's director of communicable disease control Dr. Alfred DeMaria told the Boston Globe.

The fourth new case is a man from Michigan, who was discovered to have the virus in Massachusetts, though it is believed that he contracted it elsewhere. He has returned home to be hospitalized.

"Tens of thousands" have already been infected and the number is likely to grow, the Los Angeles Times said. Most infected will only suffer "flu-like symptoms." Thus far, 854 serious cases _ 48 of them fatal _ have been reported in 28 states, the Times reported.

West Nile is transmitted via mosquitoes, which breed in standing pools of water. Other animals, such as birds and horses, can be infected. The discovery of dead birds carrying the virus is often a sign that human infections will follow.

While there is a vaccination for horses, a human vaccination has yet to be developed. Until then, people are advised to wear long sleeves and long pants when outside and to use insect repellant. Since mosquitoes are more active after nightfall, it has been suggested that people should restrict outside activities after dark.

The virus first appeared in 1999 in New York City. Since then, it has spread across the country and now there are unconfirmed reports of West Nile in Los Angeles.

Louisiana and Mississippi have been ransacked by the disease this past summer. There have been more than 296 cases in the two states this year, the Globe said.

The "massive increase" is not just media hype, Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta told the Times. It is confirmed in the increasing number of dead, infected birds and the presence of the virus in large numbers of trapped animals.

There is now speculation that the virus can be transmitted through blood transfusions. It was discovered that a Georgia woman, killed in a car accident, had been infected with West Nile after her organs were donated. All four recipients of the woman's organs were found to be infected _ three were hospitalized for encephalitis, and one died. The possibility that the recipients caught the disease from mosquito bites has not been ruled out.

The Boston Health Commission, along with the health boards in Revere and Medford, is considering whether or not to begin spraying insecticide to kill mosquitoes. Such plans are controversial, because of the insecticide's threat to the environment, humans, and animals.

Currently, the city of Boston uses a "bacterial agent" in catch basins to kill mosquito larvae, the Globe reports. This method is popular because it does not threaten people or the environment.

Other cities, such as Dallas, have used a species of fish related to the minnow _ the gambusia (mosquito fish) _ to consume the larvae before it hatches. According to the Dallas Morning News, the gambusia reduce the mosquito population without leaving behind environmental worries.

The odds of becoming seriously ill from West Nile are low _ out of a national population of nearly 275 million, there have been 854 serious cases this yea