Tom Steiner, WS

Tosa man battling West Nile dies
Steiner was principal of Wauwatosa West High School
By KAWANZA NEWSON
knewson@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 18, 2005

The principal of Wauwatosa West High School, who was diagnosed with West Nile virus, died Friday - the first such death in Milwaukee County since the disease was first detected in the state in the summer of 2001.
61763Steiner


Wauwatosa West High School principal Tom Steiner died Friday
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Tom Steiner, 55, was hospitalized about three weeks ago at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, where he remained in critical condition until his death.

Steiner's family and physicians released little information.

"It's such a shock right now," said Lois Weber, president of the Wauwatosa School Board. "People will need to just digest that it's real, because we kept thinking he would get well."

Weber said she learned of the death about 4 p.m., a time when the majority of students had left the school for home. School officials announced Steiner's death at a basketball game Friday night.

Weber said Steiner, of Wauwatosa, is survived by his wife, Cathryn, a son and a daughter, and will be missed by many others as well.

"He was really a good listener (and) he was really well-respected, by not only his students but his staff and the parents," she said. "This is a sad loss for the school and the community."

West Nile is primarily a bird disease that spreads to humans when a mosquito bites an infected bird, becomes infected itself and then bites people.

Most people get no symptoms or only mild, flu-like symptoms from West Nile. But a small percentage develop encephalitis or meningitis - inflammation around the brain or of the spinal cord - and about 10% of those people die.

As with most infectious diseases, the elderly and people with health problems are more likely to die from West Nile than younger or otherwise healthy people.

Wauwatosa schools Superintendent Phil Ertl confirmed the diagnosis of West Nile to a reporter late Monday.
Detected in state in 2001

The West Nile virus first appeared in the United States in 1999 and was first detected in Wisconsin in dead birds in late summer of 2001.

As of Tuesday, 2,676 human cases - 16 in Wisconsin - and 91 deaths from West Nile virus had been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta this year. Most cases have been in California.

Wisconsin reported 16 cases and one death to the agency this year.

Last year, there were 2,470 human cases and 88 deaths in the U.S.

Raquel Filmanowicz, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Health Department, said that Milwaukee County has confirmed eight West Nile cases this year, with four of those occurring in the city. The county reported no cases in 2004 and 2003.

Paul Biedrzycki, the Milwaukee Health Department's manager of disease control and prevention, said that 16 mosquito traps tested positive for West Nile this year, compared with only two last year.
Spring weather

The increase was likely the result of this year's very dry spring, he said.

The department has about 20 mosquito traps throughout the city that are tested each week for the virus, he said.

Biedrzycki is not surprised by the rise in human cases.

"Any time you have lots of infected mosquitoes, you're bound to see increases in human cases," he said.

From the Nov. 19, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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