Bj”rn Forsstr”m (2:203/614.61) wrote to Steven Horn at 11:43 on 19 May 2003:

 BF> West Nile disease.... What's that?

A virus first identified in 1937 which was native to Asia and Africa.  It
spread to eastern Europe in the late 1990s and to North America in 1999,
firts appearing in New York state.

It is basically a disease of birds  but is carried to humans by Culex
mosquitoes.  Most people may not know they have it but 1 out every 150 gets
very seriously ill with meningitis or polio-like symptoms.

 BF> They are /very/ bothersome here. They have a very higt-toned sound
 BF> when they fly and if you get one or two in the bedroom when going
 BF> to sleep it's almost impossible to sleep. You will hear them flying
 BF> around your years...... And after they haved sucked the blood it
 BF> will itch for an hour or so.

If you see any dead crows in the neighbourhood, you may have more than the
itch to worry about. 

 BF> Do you think that "halm" and "stad" is the same in Dutch?

"Halm" is 'blade of grass' although it can also be straw. 
"Stad" is city or town.

Take care,

Steven Horn (steven_a_horn{at}yahoo.ca)
Moderator, ALASKA_CHAT 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+