The Kane County Health Department has been alerted to mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile Virus. This batch was collected by an independent contractor near Geneva and is the first that has tested positive this year.
West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. Most of those with the virus have no clinical symptoms of illness, but some may become ill three to 14 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. Only about two persons out of 10 who are bitten by an infected mosquito will experience any illness. Illness from West Nile is usually mild and includes fever, headache and body aches, but serious illness, such as encephalitis and meningitis, and death are possible. Persons older than 50 years of age have the highest risk of severe disease.
Although we usually notice mosquitoes during rain conditions, those mosquitoes are commonly called floodwater, or nuisance, mosquitoes and typically do not carry West Nile virus. In hot, dry weather, mosquitoes that do carry West Nile virus breed in stagnant water, such as street catch basins and ditches, and multiply rapidly. Inspect your home and yard for sources of standing water where these mosquitoes are likely to breed.
The best way to prevent West Nile disease or any other mosquito-borne illness is to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and to take personal precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Precautions include:
• Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn. Use prevention methods whenever mosquitoes are present.
• When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus, according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
• Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.
• Change water in birdbaths weekly. Properly maintain wading pools and stock ornamental ponds with fish. Cover rain barrels with 16-mesh wire screen. In communities where there are organized mosquito control programs, contact your municipal government to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes.
For more information about West Nile virus, visit KaneHealth.com/Pages/West-Nile-Virus.aspx. Additional information is available at the Illinois Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) web site at dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/west-nile-virus. The IDPH West Nile Virus Hotline at 866-369-9710 is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m..
— Kane County Health Department