The Iowa Department of Public Health says a young boy from northwest Iowa has been diagnosed with the first human case of the West Nile virus in the state this year. The Health Department did not identify the boy, but said he is doing well and recovering at home. State Epidemiologist Patricia Quinlisk says this confirmed case comes later than the previous years. She says that’s been happening across the country, after a year of so of heavy activity, the numbers go down. But she says most of the cases still occur in late August or early September. Quinlisk says this is probably not the last case for this year. She says there’ll likely be more cases, especially if people don’t use their insect repellent. The virus is carried by mosquitoes and Quinlisk says you’re not safe unless you take action to keep from being bitten.
She says we’ve seen birds from every part of Iowa with the virus, “So I would say there’s probably no part of Iowa where I could say there’s not West Nile virus.” Quinlisk says it’s easy to get complacent about protecting yourself from the disease.
She says this time of year we have lest of the “nuisance” mosquitoes and people don’t worry about it as much. But, Quinlisk says the nuisance mosquitoes aren’t the ones that carry the virus. She says mosquitoes that develop in pools of standing water after a rain are the ones that carry the disease and are most prevalent this time of year. There were two deaths from West Nile last year, two in 2002 and six in 2003.