Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings declared Wednesday that the city is facing an emergency as the West Nile virus spreads, killing at least 14 people in Texas and 26 nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Dallas declaration clears the way for aerial spraying to kill the infected mosquitos that carry the disease.
The United States is experiencing its biggest spike in West Nile virus since 2004, with 241 cases of the disease reported nationwide this year so far, including four deaths, health officials said last weekend, before the latest totals.
Of the 42 states that have reported infections in people, birds or mosquitoes, 80% of them have been in Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. The CDC listed a breakdown of infections by state.
"It is not clear why we are seeing more activity than in recent years," said Marc Fischer, a CDC medical epidemiologist. "Regardless of the reasons for the increase, people should be aware of the West Nile virus activity in their area and take action to protect themselves and their family."
The virus is transmitted through infected mosquitoes.
In the United States, most infections occur between June and September, and peak in August, according to the CDC.
Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash.
"Less than 1% develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis (inflammation of the brain or surrounding tissues)," the CDC said.
Those at greater risk are people older than 50 and those with conditions such as cancer, diabetes and kidney disease, or with organ transplants.
There are no medications to treat West Nile virus or vaccines to prevent infection. People with milder illnesses typically recover on their own, but those more seriously affected may need hospital care.
Health experts say prevention measures include avoiding mosquito bites, using insect repellant and getting rid of insect breeding sites.
I'm thinking along the lines of less birds means more mosqitoes....spraying insectisides will likely kill off more birds or make them sterile so that the next year ......yep, even more mosquitoes....and it just continues. When will we learn? Never it seems.
Suggest you do a bit of real research rather than play familiar and misguided information. West Nile virus is fatal to birds – birds eating infected mosquitoes is NOT a viable solution.
@mre2. Actually, birds eating mosquitoes and people wearing long sleeves and pants outside after dusk and using mosquito repellent is a better solution than spraying. For one thing, there is only a small fraction of mosquito population that is infected with a virus. For another, birds don't get infected with West Nile by eating mosquitos. They get infected, just like people, through mosquito bites.
yep, we'll never, ever learn.
@ olf big, actually, its the mosquitos that bit the birds a.d infect their blood stream with virus.
what do sterile birds have to do with mosquitoes? lol. You think the mosquito can sense they are sterile and say "ew we don't want that" LOL
Mary, that's what he said.
"They get infected, just like people, through mosquito bites."
Oh snap, you have a PhD in Zoo-ology or Bird Mating Patterns? or ???
west nile mosquito the new love bug...
No Matty or banasy, that is not what he said. Read his post again, he got it backwards
No, Mary or Jack or Troll or whoever you really are, this is what he said: ". For one thing, there is only a small fraction of mosquito population that is infected with a virus. For another, birds don’t get infected with West Nile by eating mosquitos. They get infected, just like people, through mosquito bites."
That is what he said. You said,"actually the mosquitoes bit the birds which infected them with the virus." WHICH IS WHAT OLAF BIG SAID. Man, maybe you're talking about a different poster?
Hate women who have to be right all the time, even when they're wrong.
it's dallas texas, why should we care?
I've always hated living in Dallas...one more reason to leave this cesspool of a city ASAP
At least Dallas is spraying for it thats more than they will do in the hillbilly state of Oklahoma. And there has been alot of cases there but they arent going to spend a dime on it.
Read someone recently got very sick in hamilton ohio from west nile virus..I had mosquitoes get me a few times...Iused the bug off deep woods repellant but it stinks...sometimes it seems to work orand sometimes I think insects still get me afterwards! i hate mosquitoes!
So iz u peeple sayen dat we black peeple are that cause of da west nile thing disese? so dos dat mean dat uba white folks dont git dat disese but jut us darkie skinned peeple and not da thos ones whob got dat prety white skin ba? we ba git blam pho every thang whin it u probem to ba..do u ba kno ba wut i be sayn rite now ba?
yebba.LMBO
Well I better rush out and buy an ebonics dictionary to even attempt to understand what you just posted Johnson. Ever heard of proper English? And pull your pants up. Please lmao
LMBO.
If you didn't notice Daniel, he's someone not of the African-American race, who assumes that they speak that type of slang. And your biased comment doesn't help either. If you want to display any type of ignorance, please take it somewhere else...
@daniel 1:41 AM. Ebonics? Over half of the people who live in Los Angeles are spanish speaking individuals from Mexico. Might I suggest spanish as a superior second language. Proper spanish makes a lot more sense than broken english, for example. Plus you could get a job as a translator of spanish. No such job exists for broken english. (except for perhaps those who translate gangsta chat)
Thats it people live in fear fear fear, the only thing bad about west nile are the ass holes that think they need to poison Dallas county with toxic chemicals for everyone to breath. Only 14 people in Texas and 26 nationwide have died from west nile, thats all of TEXAS including Dallas. More people die in a week from car crashed here in Texas, I don't see them outlawing cars from the street of Texas. Stupid people do stupid things!
Well, for god-sake Texas don't be asking the federal government for money.
bear say to mouskitos : i road ..the jungle fear me..
Mouskitos answer : i bite you... everybody on this planet died
To conclude : Mouskitos > all
Sweet Jesus, was that English?
Wow. Lots of misinformation. A Mosquito gets the virus from taking infected blood from a virus carrying infected bird. Then the mosquito with now carries the infected blood and in turn infects a human by transferring the virus to the human host. Virus starts in the bird. The mosquito transfers it to people.
Texas is infected with more deadly virus than west Nile. It is called the Tea Party. When do we get rid of that?
The internet was made for you.