-Caveat Lector-
CIA Probing West Nile-Like Virus Outbreak
Outbreak
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NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The CIA and health officials said that it is
very unlikely that the recent outbreak of West Nile-like viral infection in
New York was an attempt at bioterrorism, despite reports in this week's issue
of The New Yorker magazine that the CIA is investigating that possibility.
According to a Reuters report, an unnamed CIA official said, "We have seen
the press reports but we have no intelligence to substantiate that claim."
Five individuals in New York City and one on Long Island have died, and there
are to date at least 50 potential or laboratory-confirmed cases. Health
officials believe that the virus was transmitted to people via mosquitoes
that bit infected birds.
Without quoting anyone directly at the Central Intelligence Agency, the
magazine describes analysts there as having a "whiff of concern" that the
virus might have been sent deliberately to the United States.
CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said, "We are going to look at all
possibilities. But we have to say frankly at this point we don't see anything
here." She added, "We live in a global village at this point and emerging
infectious diseases are something we are all going to have to deal with more
and more."
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that 50
potential or definite cases of West Nile-like fever had been identified in
New York and said that the outbreak was definitely on the wane. No new cases
have been reported since September 17.
According to the New York City Department of Health, 39 patients have been
classified as laboratory positive cases of West Nile-like virus in New York
City, with a total of 168 cases under investigation.
The report in The New Yorker said that the CDC had been asked to check on
whether the virus could have been deliberately spread. "We're taking it
seriously. We'll see where the data take us," the magazine quoted a person at
the CDC as saying.
Navy Secretary Richard Danzig told the magazine that he was not alarmed.
"Even if you suspect biological terrorism, it's hard to prove," he said.
The magazine cites a book written by a man using the name Mikhael Ramadan,
who claimed to be an Iraqi defector and said that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
was planning to make a weapon out of a strain of West Nile virus. He
described it as being "...capable of destroying 97% of all life in an urban
environment."
Officials from the New York City Department of Health were not available for
comment on Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday.
As reported on Reuters Health last week, researchers at the University of
California at Irvine reported in the October 9th issue of The Lancet that
they have identified the New York virus as a Kunjin/West Nile-like flavivirus.
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