West Nile virus found in Clark County

STAFF REPORTS
newsroom@newsandtribune.com

August 24, 2007 01:17 pm

— A mosquito group found in Clark County has tested positive for the West Nile virus. This is the first time this year that a positive test has been reported for the virus in Clark County.
Health officials are asking Clark County residents to:
• Take special precautions when outdoors between dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
• Use insect repellent containing DEET.
• Make sure your property is free of any standing water, which could be breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that carry the virus. Check flower pots, buckets, old tires and clogged gutters.
Another place where large numbers of disease-carrying mosquitoes breed is in accumulation of sewage water, according to a news release from the Clark County Health Department. Homeowners should repair all malfunctioning septic systems that are discharging to the surface.
“This does not come as a surprise,” said Dr. Kevin R. Burke, local health officer for the health department, in the release. “West Nile virus was present in the county last year, and we were certainly expecting to see it again this year.”
West Nile virus is transmitted to a human by a mosquito that has first bitten an infected bird. A person who is bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms from three to 15 days after the bite.
Most people who get infected with West Nile virus will have either no symptoms or mild symptoms. A few individuals will have a more severe form of the disease, encephalitis or inflammation of the brain or meningitis —inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. West Nile virus can have these symptoms: High fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle weakness or paralysis and confusion.
In 2006, there were 80 human cases of West Nile virus in Indiana, including five deaths. Daily updates on positive results for West Nile virus and a virus surveillance map are available on the State Department of Health’s web site at www.in.gov/isdh by clicking on the mosquito image on the home page.