West Nile virus found in Hillsborough County

A doctor says people across the state are at risk. Seven counties are newly put on alert.

©Associated Press
September 10, 2002

Hillsborough and six other counties were placed on a medical alert Monday for West Nile virus, as three more Florida residents were diagnosed with the disease.

The Department of Health said a 28-year-old Polk County woman, a 38-year-old in Orange County and a 29-year-old in Escambia County tested positive for the virus, which is usually transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause potentially fatal encephalitis.

The distribution of the new cases makes it clear people throughout Florida are at risk, said state epidemiologist Steven Wiersma. He said health officials expected that the disease would eventually spread all over the state.

"This goes along with what we were saying," Wiersma said. "This virus is everywhere."

Officials did not identify the three human victims and did not say whether any were hospitalized.

Wiersma said none of the three has died.

The cases bring to six the number of people infected with the disease in Florida this year. None of the first three victims died. Two of the three are believed to have contracted the virus not from mosquitoes, but by receiving organ donations from a Georgia accident victim who was infected.

Wiersma said none of the three new victims is a transplant recipient. They are presumed to have contracted the disease from mosquito bites.

Health Department spokeswoman April Crowley said seven sentinel chickens, four horses and two birds in Hillsborough County have been diagnosed with West Nile.

The new cases, along with increased detection of West Nile in animals, led Health Secretary Dr. John Agwunobi to extend a medical alert Monday to include Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota, Charlotte, Indian River and Lee counties. Several other counties, mostly in Central Florida and in the Panhandle, were already under the alert.

No alert has been issued in Pinellas.

Health care workers in the counties under medical alert have been advised to watch for symptoms of the virus.

People who live in those areas are urged to guard against mosquito bites, mainly by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active. Officials advise using mosquito repellent when outdoors and eliminating pools of standing water that can be mosquito breeding grounds.

In the most severe cases, West Nile causes encephalitis, a potentially fatal brain inflammation. Others get a flu-like illness -- with fever, headache and muscle pains -- that lasts two or three days.

Nationally, more than 900 people have contracted the West Nile virus this year, with most of the cases in Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois. More than 40 victims have died, nine in Louisiana.

-- Times staff writer Tamara Lush contributed to this report, which includes information from the Ledger of Lakeland.

Tips for avoiding West Nile virus

Florida health officials suggest several ways to manage the West Nile virus threat during mosquito season, which ends in late November or early December:

Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are likely to be biting.

Eliminate stagnant water in birdbaths, ponds and low-lying areas of lawns.

Cover up with shoes, socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outdoors during high mosquito activity.

Use mosquito repellents containing DEET, the active chemical ingredient in most repellents sold in the United States.

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