As 2005 Mosquito Season Arrives With West Nile Virus Risk, NYHQ’s Dr. Rahal, Nation’s Foremost Expert, Available As Media Resource

QUEENS, N.Y., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ —

   WHO:    James Rahal, MD, the nation’s foremost expert on the West Nile           virus, advises the region to heed CDC (Centers for Disease           Control) and NYS Department of Health mosquito bite precautions.           Topping the list for West Nile virus prevention is the use of           insect repellents as a prophylactic. (For full list of precautions           or a list of disease cases, go to           http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/ or           http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/westnile/ .)     WHAT:  Nationally, there are 181 reported cases of human West Nile           disease. In New York State, two men from Manhattan and a man from           Putnam County have been infected with the virus and mosquito pools           have been identified in the Bronx and other parts of New York. So           far, there is no cure for West Nile virus.    FYI:    Dr. Rahal, Director of Infectious Disease at New York Hospital           Queens, was one of the first physicians in the U.S. to identify           the mosquito-borne disease pattern, which began infecting patients           in Queens, New York, in 1999. Since then, he has been working on           developing a cure for patients who are affected with the disease.            In August 2002, Dr. Rahal was authorized by the FDA to start           treating patients infected with the West Nile virus with a drug           called alpha-interferon as part of a national trial. Since then,           Dr. Rahal has found the drug to be a promising treatment. To           determine the drug’s definitive effectiveness, he began a double-           blind, national study (http://nyhq.org/posting/rahal.html) last           August and continues to enroll patients for that important study.    NOTE TO    EDITOR:  James J. Rahal, MD, the Director of Infectious Disease at             New York Hospital Queens, has a distinguished career that             spans four decades. He was one of the first physicians in             the U.S. to recognize the outbreak pattern of the West             Nile virus in 1999 when it first began infecting patients             in Queens and is now known as the nation’s foremost             expert on the West Nile virus.  Dr. Rahal has received             countless awards for teaching and research and prior to             his work on the West Nile virus, he had been recognized             internationally as the scientific leader who discovered             and published his findings on the resistance of bacteria             to antibiotics in the 1980s and 1990s.     CONTACT:  Paul Pickard – (718) 670-1491             Cynthia Bacon – (718) 670-2515  

New York Hospital Queens

CONTACT: Paul Pickard, +1-718-670-1491, or Cynthia Bacon,+1-718-670-2515, both for New York Hospital Queens

Web site: http://www.nyhq.org/http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnilehttp://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/westnilehttp://nyhq.org/posting/rahal.html