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Significantly fewer cases of West Nile virus infection have been reported so far in 2005 compared with this time last year, but federal officials warn the season is still early.
By mid-July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had received reports of 25 cases nationwide, including 1 death in Missouri.
In contrast, by mid-July 2004, the CDC had received reports of 108 human cases, including 2 deaths.
There is no way to project where the disease will hit hardest this year, given the limited experience with the virus in the United States or its track record in Europe, Asia, and Africa, said Theresa Smith, M.D., a medical epidemiologist with the CDC division of vector-borne infectious diseases in Fort Collins, Colo.
"It has a seasonal nature, but not a truly cyclical nature," Dr. Smith commented.
Of the 25 cases reported since Jan. 1, 2005, 15 (60%) were reported as West Nile fever, 9 (36%) were reported as West Nile meningitis or encephalitis (neuroinvasive disease), and 1 (4%) had not been clinically defined at press time.
Testing of potential blood donors identified seven people with presumptive West Nile virus infection: Five occurred in Texas and two occurred in Arizona.