CDC probes West Nile in breast milk

By Elizabeth Cohen and Miriam Falco (CNN Medical Unit)

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Genetic material from the West Nile virus has been found in breast milk, prompting federal health officials to advise mothers who are infected with the virus to consider not breast-feeding, a federal health official said Friday.

The baby who ingested the tainted breast milk has no symptoms of West Nile, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to test the infant's blood to see if it contains the virus, according to a CDC official. Eighty percent of people infected with West Nile do not show symptoms.

Health officials suspect the baby's mother contracted the disease when she received a blood transfusion after giving birth.

A CDC official emphasized that the agency does not know if the virus itself was in the breast milk, since they found only genetic material from the virus. The CDC is now culturing the breast milk to see if the virus is present. The culture takes five to seven days.

The CDC official said it's unclear whether a woman who was infected but shows no symptoms could pass the virus along in breast milk.

Some diseases, such as HIV, can be transmitted through breast milk.

This year 2,206 cases of West Nile infection have been reported in the United States, and 108 people have died, according to the CDC. No babies have died from West Nile virus, but some were infected. The CDC will check to see if those infants were breast-fed, the CDC official said.

Illinois has been hit hardest by West Nile Virus this year. Almost one-quarter of the nation's reported human cases are in that state -- 539, according to the latest CDC data -- with 19 reported deaths.

Michigan has had 314 cases and 15 reported deaths.

Less than 1 percent of those infected with West Nile suffer severe illness or die from the disease, the CDC says.

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