Queens Legislators To Probe Citys Handling Of West Nile Virus

It struck without warning on a hot August morning, and before it was over seven were dead and 61 were sickened by an encephalitis epidemic that terrorized the city and adjoining counties.
Now city, federal and state officials are poised to investigate the governments handling of the West Nile Virus outbreak and the spraying of the city with the controversial insecticide Malathion.
The officials all from Queens, where the disease was first reported and the spraying was first done include Congressman Gary Ackerman, State Senator Frank Padavan, Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin and City Councilman Mike Abel.
They will hold a hearing on March 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Queens Library in Flushing at 41-17 Main St. The bipartisan panel expects to hear testimony from experts, residents, and city, state and federal officials concerning last summers efforts to combat the virus.
The hearing grew out of Ackermans failure to secure any information from the city on the spraying campaign. "I was given a duplicitous runaround and have yet to secure any answer to my questions," he said in a statement.
The hearing comes as spring approaches and fears grow that the mosquitoes bearing the West Nile Virus will return and prompt another round of Malathion spraying.
Meanwhile, Dr. Deborah Asnis, chief of infectious diseases at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, gave The Queens Courier the first complete account of a private conference at Flushing Hospital Medical Center focusing on the encephalitis outbreak.
Asnis treated the first cases from northeastern Queens at her hospital and notified the City Health Departments bureau of communicable diseases.
The conference last month drew 150 physiciansfrom throughout the state. Panelists included Dr. Marcelle Layton, director ofcommunicable diseases at the New York City Department of Health; Dr. TracyMcNamara of the Wildlife Conservation Society who first identified the microbeas the West Nile Virus; two FBI investigators; and a New York Police Departmentspecial agent on the Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Aug. 20: An 87-year-old woman is admitted to the hospital with fever and diarrhea. Six days later she reports pain and her muscles lose tone.
"They all came from the same neighborhood," Asnis said. "We sent spinal taps from eight cases to state health facilities to help us in diagnosing the condition."
She said the consensus of the speakers was that "there is a strong likelihood the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus will return in the spring."
FBI speakers, including William A. Zinnikas, weapons of mass destruction coordinator, said bio-terrorists were not involved. They counseled the physicians that they should keep on the alert for bio-terrorists and their telltale signs, including burns incurred from bomb-making.
City health authorities announced at the meeting that they would keep in close touch with area hospitals to see if any suspected encephalitis cases were under treatment. They also promised to educate the public about eliminating stagnant water on their property breeding grounds of the Culex pipiens mosquito that carries the virus.