Louisiana Confirms 7 West Nile Deaths

NEW ORLEANS —  The death toll from the worst outbreak of West Nile virus in the U.S. climbed to seven Friday as Louisiana health officials said two more people had died of the mosquito-borne disease. The governor of Mississippi declared a state of emergency as the number of cases there increased.

The victims were identified as a 76-year-old woman who died Aug. 2 and a 94-year-old woman who died Sunday. Both lived in parishes north of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain, that have reported more than 30 cases of the disease.

The number of cases in Louisiana has risen to 85, and the state is still waiting for test results on 90 blood samples, said Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist. To avoid delaying results for the most seriously ill, Louisiana will test only people who appear to have nervous system infections: meningitis or encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.

The Louisiana outbreak is the deadliest since the virus killed seven people and hospitalized 55 others in New York in 1999, when the disease was first detected in this country.

All West Nile deaths this year have been in Louisiana, though Mississippi officials were awaiting test results to confirm whether a death there was due to the virus.

Mississippi Gov. Ronnie D. Musgrove declared a state of emergency to warn residents to protect themselves. It cleared the way to seek federal funding to fight the outbreak. Louisiana has already taken the step.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said she plans to ask the Air Force next week to send in a Special Operations squadron to spray insecticide in affected parishes. The 910th Flight Wing, based in Ohio, specializes in insect control.