Human cases : As of September 7, 2000, there are nine human confirmed cases, eight of which are residents of New York (one from Brooklyn and seven from Staten Island) and one is a resident of New Jersey. The ages of the cases range from 43 to 87 years old. The earliest onset date was on July 20; the latest being August 23. Clinical syndromes included six cases with encephalitis and the remaining three with aseptic meningitis. Two of these cases remain hospitalized. Since August 28, the WNv has infected four more people. A 53-year-old female from Staten Island became ill with encephalitis on August 23 and was admitted to a local hospital five days later. She remains hospitalized, but is improving. A Staten Island man, aged 61-years-old, also became infected with the virus. He became ill on the August 4 with muscle weakness and encephalitis. He was admitted to a hospital on August 6 and was released five days later. Another Staten Island man, aged 52-years-old, was diagnosed with symptoms of meningitis on August 15. He was admitted to a local hospital on August 18, but was released a week later (August 25). Finally, the New Jersey case is a man who is 43 years of age. He was admitted to a hospital in early August with symptoms consistent with WNv infection but has since been discharged.

Birds and mosquitoes : By September 7, 2000, a total of 523 dead birds have been reported as positive for WNv this year for the state of New York. Since the last bulletin, six more counties have reported positive dead bird findings, bringing the total to 47 New York counties reporting positive results. Of these 47, nine are located immediately south of Ontario (Counties of Cayuga, Chautauqua, Clinton, Erie, Franklin, Monroe, Niagara, Oswego and St. Lawrence). Of concern to Ontario is a dead bird found in Parishville, New York, which is 45 km south of Cornwall and 65 km east of Brockville. In addition, a total of 216 positive mosquito pools, one sentinel chicken and six live wild birds have also been identified as positive for WNv in New York. Meanwhile, another 264 bird carcasses were found to be positive for the virus in numerous counties in New Jersey as of September 7. A total of 586 dead birds and seven mosquito pools have been found to be positive in New Jersey. In Connecticut, 240 dead birds have tested positive in 38 communities across the state. Another positive mosquito pool has also been identified in Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut. This is the third positive pool for the state of Connecticut but is the second positive pool identified in the town of Norwalk. Currently, there are no plans for pesticide spraying. Another dead crow has been recognized as positive for WNv in Rhode Island. This brings the total of positive dead birds in this state to four this year. In response to positive findings in Rhode Island and the neighbouring state of Massachusetts (i.e., dead crow found in Seekonk), the state has done spraying in the towns of Coventry, Cranston, Middleton, Newport, Warwick and Westerly with the pyrethroid-based adulticide Sumithrin. As for the state of Massachusetts, a total of 54 dead birds were confirmed to have been infected with WNv in 16 cities as of August 28. The state has done ground spraying using the synthetic pesticide Resmethrin. Finally, a crow collected on August 21 in the city of Manchester, New Hampshire has tested as positive for the virus. With the isolation of the virus, mosquito detection activities were increased in the Manchester area. The state of New Hampshire also plans to conduct mosquito control activities in public areas near the site of this isolation.

Other : The first report of a raccoon infected with WNv has been made by the state of New York (Manhattan, New York City). In addition, the first confirmed case of equine encephalitis due to WNv was also observed in Staten Island. The horse fell ill with symptoms of a WNv infection on August 17, and was euthanized on August 20. In addition to the raccoon and the horse, New York has also identified four bats in Albany and two bats in Ontario (New York) as positive for the virus. Another horse was also identified as positive for WNv in Cape May, New Jersey. This horse was euthanized on August 30 after becoming ill three days earlier. A third horse in South Kingstown, Rhode Island was confirmed on September 4 to have been infected with the virus. The horse was euthanized on August 28. In response to this finding, ground spraying was done in South Kingstown and Narragansett. This is the first time a horse has contracted the disease in each of the three states this year.