
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995                   TAG: 9501060097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

VIRUS NAME BUGS ISLAND

Members of the American Legion wanted to keep the name of Legionnaires' disease as a tribute to those who had died.

And some residents of exclusive Lyme, Conn., thought the name Lyme disease might keep undesirables out.

But folks who live on Shelter Island want nothing to do with a rare strain of a deadly rodent-borne virus now called Shelter Island-1.

``Why should we have this dubious honor? I have friends in real estate who are totally freaking out,'' said Pat Devlin, a retiree who lives in the wealthy resort between the eastern tips of Long Island, 90 miles east of New York City. ``It's definitely going to ruin the value of the property. The lifeblood of Shelter Island is tourism.''

Shelter Island Town Supervisor Huson ``Hoot'' Sherman said he is prepared to sue if he can't get the name changed. Real estate agents told him, ```When people hear this, they just won't come,''' he said.

A camping group from New York City immediately canceled a visit after researchers announced the discovery of the Shelter Island strain last month, Sherman said.

The strain was identified after David Rosenberg, a college student whose family owned a home on the island, died a year ago. It was the first fatality from a strain of hantavirus, a virus carried by rodents, in the Northeast.

by CNB