Mosquito control treatments already undertaken in affected area, Health Department and county staff report
On Friday, Oct. 23, the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County (DOH-Sarasota) began informing residents of a confirmed human case of locally acquired West Nile virus.
“DOH-Sarasota and Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services have coordinated surveillance and prevention, and Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services has already conducted mosquito control treatments in the area,” news release pointed out.
No details were provided about the affected area.
The last time DOH-Sarasota announced that a West Nile virus case had been confirmed in a human being was almost exactly three years ago, in October 2023, as The Sarasota News Leader reported at the time.
Fort the week of Oct. 11-17, the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee noted that no human cases of West Nile virus had been reported. That was the latest report available prior to the deadline for publication of this issue of the News Leader.
However, the state Health Department added that 43 sentinel chickens had tested positive that week for antibodies to West Nile virus; some of those were in Manatee, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, though the department did not specify how many of the chickens were in the specific counties.
Altogether, that report pointed out that, this year, through that week, positive West Nile virus samples had been obtained from “five symptomatic humans, two asymptomatic blood donors, 359 sentinel chickens, three horses, and eight mosquito pools” in 28 of the 67 counties.
Representatives of DOH-Sarasota are reminding the public “to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes by taking basic precautions,” the news release added.
The following are the precautions that the state Department of Health features on its website:
Drain and cover
- Drain water from garbage cans, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flower pots and any other containers where sprinkler or rainwater has collected.
- Discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items that are not being used.
- “Empty and clean birdbaths and pet water bowls at least once or twice a week.
- “Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don’t accumulate water.
- “Maintain swimming pools in good condition and ensure they are appropriately chlorinated. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.”
Insect repellents
Use EPA-registered insect repellents with one of the active ingredients below. “When used as directed,” the Health Department says, those repellents “are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women”:
- DEET.
- Picaridin (known as KBR 3023 and icaridin outside the U.S.)
- IR3535.
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) —plant-derived ingredient.
- Para-menthane-diol (PMD).
- 2-undecanone — pant-derived ingredient.
DOH-Sarasota “continues to conduct statewide surveillance for mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus infections, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, malaria, chikungunya, and dengue, the Oct. 23 release pointed out.
For more information, people may visit the state Department’s website.
Symptoms of the illness
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that 80% of the people who contract West Nile Virus “do not develop symptoms.” For those who do, it continues, “Symptoms usually start 2–6 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito but can start anywhere from 2–14 days. It may take longer for symptoms to start for people with a weakened immune system.”
The agency adds, “About 20% of people who are infected develop flu-like symptoms, such as a fever with headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash.” Most people with mild illness as a result of infection from West Nile virus “recover completely,” the CDC says, “but fatigue and weakness can last for weeks or months.”
Then the agency points out, “Less than 1% of people infected develop severe illness that affects the central nervous system, requires hospitalization, or results in death.”
The CDC explains, “Symptoms of severe illness can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness, and paralysis.”
“About 1 out of 10 people who develop severe illness affecting the central nervous system die,” the CDC adds.
The agency does note, “The risk of severe illness increases with age. For example,” it says, “people 65 and older are three times more likely to develop neurologic illness than people younger than 65.”