Long Island reports 3 West Nile cases

Officials fear virus will soon reach West Coast

Mike Mobley is framed in a tire swing while he sprays in the yard of a home Friday morning in Bossier City, Louisiana.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Long Island resident died of the West Nile virus and two others have been infected as authorities prepared for aerial pesticide spraying, health officials said Saturday.

Preliminary blood tests indicate the virus as the cause of death of an 81-year-old man from Melville, New York, who died August 19, a news release from the Suffolk County Health Services Department said. Final results are expected Monday.

The New York State Health Department and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control have confirmed three human cases of West Nile in Suffolk County, but they have not confirmed the death of the man as caused by the virus. The other two cases involve a 77-year-old woman from Babylon and a 55-year-old man from East Setauket.

Nationwide, the CDC has confirmed 371 cases of the virus and 16 deaths. The most recent confirmed West Nile deaths were both in Georgia -- a 51-year-old Atlanta man and a 77-year-old man from Columbus.

In response to the latest cases, the Suffolk County Department of Public Works said it will do two aerial applications of Scourge, a pesticide used to kill the mosquitoes that carry the disease.

The virus has been spreading quickly westward, with officials fearing it will soon reach the West Coast. The CDC confirmed West Nile has now been found in horses and birds in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.

Louisiana hardest hit

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So far, swampy Louisiana has been the hardest hit, with eight people dying there as a result of the outbreak. The CDC confirmed 24 new human cases in that state, raising the total human caseload there to 171.

Virginia's first case was a 33-year-old Richmond man from an area where West Nile virus-positive birds and mosquitoes have been found, a news release from the Virginia Department of Health said. He was not hospitalized and is recovering.

"We expected to see a human case of West Nile virus in Virginia this year due to the level of virus activity being detected in birds and mosquitos," said the commonwealth's health commissioner, Dr. Robert B. Stroube.

Also, Nebraska state officials announced that state's first human case Friday, saying the person infected is not seriously ill and not hospitalized.

CDC warns hunters

With hunting season beginning in September in several states, health officials are concerned the virus, which is carried by many birds, would be transferred to humans who handle infected animals, particularly during butchering.

"The CDC has recommended that hunters shooting game birds use gloves to pick up the animals," said Butch Kinerney, spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey.

He added, "There's no evidence just by handling a dead bird or touching a dead bird you can contract" West Nile, but the CDC is recommending the use of gloves as a precaution.

In a Thursday teleconference, CDC epidemiologist Dr. Lyle Petersen said hunters should practice "the normal precautions they would take to prevent infection from butchering these animals."

In many states of the South, public health and road departments are fogging nightly for mosquitoes.

Though West Nile does not kill game birds, they can carry the virus in their blood, Kinerney said. Doves, ducks, geese, grouse, pigeons, wild turkeys and ring-necked pheasants have tested positive for the disease.

He said mosquitos continue to pose the major risk for humans, but the Geological Survey advises that any dead bird -- even one killed by a hunter -- be handled using plastic.