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Re: [RC] West Nile Virus-Heads Up - Maryanne Stroud GabbaniNot to sound heartless, but it's a good idea to understand the mechanism of these diseases. Your friend didn't become paralysed due to WNV, instead he contracted a form of encephalitis as an additional bonus to WNV. Encephalitis can come from any number of introductory diseases, in fact, measles used to be a biggie. One of my childhood friends contracted it at the age of 10 and had to learn how to walk and talk all over again. The WNV itself is similar to a fairly mild case of the flu and if there is a compromise to the immune system (this can be other chronic illness, old age, whatever, stress....) then the victim of the WNV stands a much higher chance of contracting encephalitis. Encephalitis is actually an inflammation of the brain...this is what causes the paralysis.If I were to test a majority of my neighbours here, we would find positive scores for WNV. Most of us had it and never knew. Likewise, most of our horses have had it as well, but no one ever knew. The best thing you can do is to keep your immune system healthy: eat properly, rest, avoid stress (yeah, right, lady!!! <G>), and so on. Back in the 40's the US military determined that a vaccine for WNV would be easy to do, but it wasn't economically viable because at that point the only people who had it were too poor to defray the development and sales costs. So no one ever bothered....Not until millions of horse owners became concerned in the US. That's why there is an equine vaccine (which we don't use, BTW) but no human vaccine. It's really sad about your friend, but don't go getting worried that all your neighbours are going to become paralysed. Not likely. I'd personally worry more about cervid wasting disease which is similar in symptoms to BSE but is transmitted among deer and elk by some as yet unknown means. It started out in an elk feed lot and has now moved all over the western US deer populations. No one can figure out how it jumped from an elk feedlot to the wild population, nor how it is being transmitted among the wild populations. Interesting that CWD hasn't gotten ANY press time.....but then wild deer don't have owners to vaccinate them. Maryanne Being morbid in Cairo On Saturday, Aug 7, 2004, at 01:42 Africa/Cairo, Marj Pryor wrote: We just returned from Montana where we met a wonderful gentleman rancher in Maryanne Stroud Gabbani Cairo, Egypt www.alsorat.com "The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for" Louis L'Amour =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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