West Nile Virus Showing Up in Central Illinois

Walk into local convenience stores like Walgreen's and flu shot signs are by the entrance doors. Summer is leaving. Fall is coming. Cold medicine is flying off the shelves, but is mosquito repellent being purchased, too? According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the first human West Nile Virus Case in central Illinois was reported and confirmed in mid-August this year.

A woman in her 50s was confirmed with the illness by the Tazewell County Health Department, along with eight other cases total. The other eight cases were six women and two men, ages ranging from 30s to 80s. People 50 or older may have more severe reactions to the disease.

In recent years, Illinois had its highest number of human cases of West Nile Virus in 2002 with 884 humans and 67 deaths. The numbers have sense declined to 215 cases in 2006 and 10 deaths. Part of the reason for the decline was due to cooler temperatures in 2003 and 2004 in comparison to 2002.

The state of Illinois saw its first human case and death from West Nile Virus in 2002, but Cook County didn't see its first case until Aug. 31, 2009. Thirty-six of Illinois's 102 counties got West Nile Virus from a "positive bird, mosquito sample, horse or human case," according to IDPH.

The first case of the West Nile Virus was in New York in the fall of 1999.

Because the virus can be spread by an infected mosquito who has fed from an infected bird, humans are strongly encouraged to use mosquito repellent.

Suggestions for avoiding West Nile Virus are to keep secure screens on open windows, wear long pants and shirts while outside, empty water from bird baths and stay away from watery areas from dusk until dawn. House mosquitoes also gather near items that collect water, such as open tires, buckets, bottles, roof gutters, ditches, house basins and trash covered in rainwater. Swimming pool owners should also drain their pools when not in regular use. Regular lawn maintenance also deters mosquitoes from congregating around homes.

The increase of mosquitoes during flooding do not carry the West Nile Virus as frequently as house mosquitoes.

Additional Notes: This entry was originally published by the Chicago News & Events Examiner.