State and local health officials around the country are reporting the first cases of West Nile virus of the season in humans and urging people to take action to protect themselves from the mosquito-borne disease.
, adding to previous 2023 reports from Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. A mosquito at a monitoring site near Houston tested positive last week for the potentially fatal virus, prompting local health officials to begin evening spray operations in the area where the mosquito was found, according to an, which compiles local reports, there have been 13 human cases of West Nile virus in 2023. In 2022, there were 1,126 cases, including 90 deaths.
Among this year’s 13 cases reported to the CDC so far, eight people add severe neuroinvasive disease, which means the disease spread to the nervous system. Such severe symptoms typically occur in 1 in every 150 cases of West Nile virus, and can include encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, which is inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
West Nile virus is transmitted to people by the bite of an infected mosquito, but it can also be spread to humans if they handle a dead bird that is infected. The CDC says there are no medications to treat the virus in people. Most people who are infected do not feel sick, and 1 in 5 people infected develop a fever and other symptoms like headache, body ache, or a rash.
Prevention strategies are to wear insect repellent and to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to avoid mosquito bites.Iowa Department of Health and Human Services: “Iowa HHS Announces First West Nile Virus Case for 2023.”Harris County Public Health: “First West Nile Virus Mosquito Sample of 2023 Found in Harris County.”
CDC: “West Nile Virus,” “Unprecedented Outbreak of West Nile Virus — Maricopa County, Arizona, 2021.”
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