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Louisiana lawmakers seek funds to battle West Nile virus
By: Richard Black
Senior Journal, August 4, 2002
NEW ORLEANS (August 4, 2002 9:27 a.m. EDT) - Lawmakers are working to
get more money to battle an outbreak of West Nile virus that has killed
four people.
Republican state Sen. Tom Schedler said a special legislative fund of $6
million to $7 million could be exhausted based on the projected magnitude
of the West Nile outbreak.
East Baton Rouge has spent nearly 10 times the money on fogging and
spraying for mosquitos this year than was spent in all of 1998.
Gov. Mike Foster declared a statewide emergency Friday, seeking federal
money for parishes that are using up their mosquito spraying budgets.
In addition to the four people who had died so far in the outbreak,
another 54 people are ill. The state is awaiting lab results in 34 more
suspected cases.
Becky Hunt, whose husband, E.C. Hunt Jr., 72, died in the outbreak, said
he apparently contracted the virus around July 4, after resisting her
entreaties to use mosquito repellent.
She said she learned Thursday, after his funeral, that he had the virus,
and hopes the news of her husband's death will cause others in southwest
Louisiana to heed the experts' advice.
"Listen to them, and listen to your wife when she tells you to put on
repellent," she said.
Most people who get bitten by an infected mosquito won't show any
symptoms, but will become immune to the virus. Given the number of people
diagnosed with West Nile, 10,000 to 12,000 Louisiana residents are in this
category, said Dr. Erin Brewer, regional medical director for the state
Department of Health and Hospitals.
The virus can cause flu-like symptoms and in the most serious cases,
encephalitis, a potentially fatal swelling of the brain.
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