- WINNIPEG - Health officials
in Manitoba believe they have found a case of West Nile virus in a dead
crow.
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- It would be the first time the virus has been detected
west of Ontario.
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- It follows news of a horse in neighbouring North Dakota
that tested positive for the mosquito-born disease.
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- Confirmation of preliminary test results in both cases
are expected within days.
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- Manitoba Health Minister Dave Chomiak has the authority
to order spraying for mosquitoes if officials determine there is a health
emergency.
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- Dr. Terry Tenenbaum
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- Two provinces to the east there was another case, and
this one turned out to be confirmed. "This year for the first time
in Quebec, two of the birds that were sent to Winnipeg for testing were
found to be positive," said Dr. Terry Tenenbaum.
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- West Nile was first detected in Canada last year in Ontario.
Health officials across Canada have said the spread of West Nile was inevitable.
The city of Winnipeg has been preparing with an aggressive new program
to wipe out as many mosquito larvae as possible. As well, there's an aggressive
campaign to fog the city with an insecticide to kill off the mature mosquitoes.
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- Suspicion that the West Nile has arrived is not exactly
what people in Canada's mosquito capital want to hear.
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- Robbin Lindsay
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- "It's not a situation we want people to be alarmed
about, but you should take personal protective measures. But living in
Winnipeg in the summer, you have to anyway," said Health Canada's
Robbin Lindsay.
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- Last year 128 birds tested positive in Ontario, but not
one person became sick. Health officials say very few mosquitoes actually
carry the virus and only one person in 200 bitten by an infected mosquito
will get sick. And only a small number of those will people become seriously
ill.
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- But the Manitoba government is leaving nothing to chance.
It's aggressive insecticide-spraying program has just been kicked up a
notch. Over the next few days the whole city will be blanketed, even
neighborhoods that have opted out of the spraying program in the past.
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- Written by CBC News Online staff
- http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/07/12/westnile020712
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