Thursday, December 19, 2002

U.S. baby infected before birth with West Nile TheStar.com - Dec. 19, 2002. 06:54AM
"SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) A month-old baby with the West Nile virus was infected before she was born in the country's first documented intrauterine transmission of the disease, according to a report.

The case surprised health officials who had believed the disease could not be passed from pregnant mothers to their unborn children, the Post-Standard of Syracuse reported today...." [This item goes on to report a case of West Nile in a Michigan infant acquired through breastmilk. In fact, the CDC isolated viral fragments and antibodies in breastmilk and antibodies in the infant, but the infant was not ill with WNV. - JC]