Sep
10
West Nile Outbreak Expected To Last Until October
The West Nile outbreak is still continuing to affect many states in the US. There have been continuous outbreak alerts provided on several of the hardest hit states, Texas of which bore the brunt of the outbreak the most. The state reported nearly half of the West Nile cases this year and has reported the most deaths so far as a result of West Nile disease. Texas and the other states still have to bear the West Nile issue at least for a couple of months more.
According to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC, the West Nile outbreak may possibly extend well into October. Although health officials say that the outbreak has already peaked in August, there may still be cases reported until October. The problem is that a majority of West Nile virus infections do not always display symptoms prominently on most of the infected cases. On some people, the West Nile virus infection may sometimes not display the telltale symptoms for people to recognize it as such. In this case, many infections are not promptly being reported to the CDC.
In addition, the West Nile virus infections do not show any of the symptoms immediately. Some of those infected may go on for weeks not showing any signs of the West Nile infection. The CDC expects that such cases may go unnoticed for weeks or may only be reported later on when the symptoms begin to develop. It is on such cases that the CDC expects to receive way until October, before states can see the outbreak from waning further.
Many states have so far been able to control the mosquito population in their area by conducting frequent aerial pesticide spraying. Such actions have so far helped control the mosquito population in the hardest hit areas such as Texas. It is reported that the aerial spraying has reduced the number of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus from more than half of its population sometime in July to just a little less than 9 percent.
But still, the CDC expects to receive West Nile infection reports until October since most patients may delay screening and blood tests up until serious symptoms occur. They are still urging people to be wary of getting mosquito bites to prevent getting infected by using effective insect repellents regularly, especially when going outdoors. People should always be looking around their home for possible mosquito breeding grounds such as standing pools of water, especially after rainfalls in the area. People should try to get rid of such areas with standing water by either draining them out or by treating them with mosquito tablets that can kill mosquito larvae already breeding in the water.