indiana west nile death, First Indiana death this year reported from the West Nile virusAs Indiana recorded its first death this year from the West Nile virus, state health officials warned Wednesday of a sharp increase in the number of infected mosquitoes.The death was in Vanderburgh County, in the far southwestern part of the state, health officials said. They released no information about the person but said the death occurred recently.Six other Indiana cases of people infected with the virus have been reported. Other counties where cases have occurred are Marion, Fulton, Hamilton, Jackson and Monroe.
Nationwide, 26 other deaths have been reported among 693 cases, the most reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the second week in August since the virus was first detected in the United States in 1999.
In Texas alone, the CDC has reported 200 cases and 14 deaths. On Wednesday, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings declared the city's recent outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial In Texas alone, the CDC has reported 200 cases and 14 deaths. On Wednesday, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings declared the city's recent outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in more than 45 years..Louisiana is second with six deaths.
The Indiana death comes in the wake of another troubling statistic from the Indiana State Department of Health: West Nile-carrying mosquitoes have been found in 62 counties this year, nearly double the number from last year and eight more than in 2010.
“This is really scary,” said Karen Roos, a neurologist at Indiana University Health. “We are seeing so many mosquitoes in so many counties.”
Roos, who has studied West Nile and specializes in infectious diseases that affect the central nervous system, said symptoms of the virus can mimic those of diseases such as meningitis, cephalitis and even polio, with leg weakness and paralysis becoming possible outcomes.
Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands or a rash.
There is no vaccine or cure.
The potential for more cases could continue into the fall.
“Mosquitoes are really only gone after the first freeze,” Roos said. “Up until then they are going to remain a risk.”
Roos said she thinks this year’s number of patients could increase “exponentially” over the next few weeks.
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