TX: Dengue virus identified in Houston

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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/wrapup-iceid-4/

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Is Houston in the midst of an unrecognized dengue epidemic? Between 2003 and 2005, 47 people who were hospitalized in Houston for meningitis or encephalitis were found to have antibodies to dengue in their blood or cerebrospinal fluid, and two died. Only 16 percent of them had traveled to countries where dengue is known to circulate. (?An Outbreak of Dengue Fever in Houston, Texas, with Evidence of Autochthonous Transmission between 2003 and 2005,? K.O. Murray et al.)

 

[Shiloh]

TX: Dengue virus identified in Houston

Source: http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/Dengue-virus-identified-in-Houston-4883103.php?cmpid=hpbn

Dengue virus identified in Houston
Potentially lethal disease carried by mosquitoes found in city
By Todd Ackerman | October 9, 2013 | Updated: October 10, 2013 12:34am

..."Dengue virus can cause incredibly severe disease and death," said Dr. Kristy Murray, a professor of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and the study's principal investigator. "This study shows that Houston may be at risk of an outbreak, that people need to be on the lookout."

... the study, published Wednesday in the journal Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, found that most of the infections were transmitted in Houston....

...Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor's National School of Tropical Medicine, said it is a significant concern that the dengue strain identified in Houston is different from the one confirmed in 2010 in Key West, Fla. He said if either strain spreads to the other side of the Gulf Coast, it could mean a fatal outbreak...

...Murray's team found evidence of dengue in blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples submitted for West Nile virus testing between 2003 and 2005, a period during which the Houston health department banked such specimens. They found 47 of 3,768 were positive for antibodies to acute dengue infection, which Murray characterized as "the tip of the iceberg" because the samples only involved people sick enough to seek treatment. She said the cases suggest there was a dengue outbreak in 2003.

Two of the 47 died from the infection, the study found.

There are no banked specimens after 2005 to conduct further retrospective dengue, but Murray and Hotez said the virus is likely still here...