West Nile virus hits Toronto - two deaths reported

Health officials in Canada have reported that there have been two deaths related to the West Nile Virus, the first for three years in Canada's largest city, Toronto.

Apparently a 63-year-old man and a 90-year-old man died over the weekend from the virus, which is carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.

At present Health Canada's web site indicates that there have been as many as 50 cases of West Nile so far this year, most of them in three provinces.

The first year the West Nile virus was detected in Toronto was 2002; then there were 166 cases of the virus and 10 deaths.

Since then there have been no deaths from the virus until now.

According to officials in Toronto, the West Nile Virus season is at its peak, and citizens are being urged to try and avoid mosquito bites by wearing light colored clothing, using mosquito repellent and by repairing holes in door and window screens.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported this year's first human case of West Nile virus in the United States in Kansas, in June.

The virus, which was first reported in the Western Hemisphere in 1999, has been found in birds, mosquitoes or horses in 14 states, and this means that mosquitoes can easily transmit the virus to people.

Although West Nile, which is common in north Africa, parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, causes mild or no symptoms in most people it infects, it can cause a dangerous brain inflammation in some people, especially the elderly.

Since it first appeared in New York in 1999, the virus has made nearly 17,000 Americans ill and killed more than 650.

In 2004, 2,535 human cases and 98 deaths were reported to the CDC, with most cases in the Western states.

The virus has wiped out populations of crows, jays and similar birds who are susceptible and has spread to every U.S. state except Alaska and Hawaii, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico.

The CDC says in addition to DEET and permethrin, repellents containing picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus have recently been found to provide reliable and long-lasting protection from mosquito bites.