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Two more West Nile virus cases reported

They mark the second and third cases diagnosed in Florida this year; all have been Pinellas County residents.

By LISA GREENE
Published August 1, 2005

Two more Pinellas County residents have been diagnosed with West Nile virus, the potentially deadly illness carried by mosquitoes, health officials said Monday.

They are the second and third cases diagnosed in Florida this year, all three in Pinellas.

The new patients are a 78-year-old man and an 85-year-old woman, said Pinellas County health department spokeswoman Jeannine Mallory. Both are recuperating.

Pinellas County has been placed under medical alert, and health officials are urging residents to wear repellent and take other steps to keep mosquitoes away.

"It's just critical for folks to take those steps," said state health department spokeswoman Lindsay Hodges. "West Nile is an entirely preventable illness."

A 27-year-old man who was diagnosed Friday was the first Pinellas County resident to have a reported case of the virus this year.

The county actually has fewer mosquitoes than usual right now, said county spokeswoman Marcia Crawley. But the county's mosquito control division is spraying as if the population were higher, she said.

"We're doing everything we can to try to keep the populations low or reduce them even further," she said.

The county's three West Nile patients don't know each other and aren't believed to have contracted the disease in the same area, Mallory said.

"There doesn't appear to be any correlation between the three of them," she said.

Because of medical confidentiality rules, health officials won't say where the patients live. But West Nile has been diagnosed in sentinel chickens in different parts of the county, and health officials say the exact location doesn't matter.

"Mosquitoes travel, as do birds," Hodges said. "And they don't know county lines ... what's important is that we know West Nile virus is present."

The virus spreads from infected mosquitoes to birds, who infect other mosquitoes who bite them.

Cases have tended to cluster each year around the state, Hodges said. Last year, most cases were in the Miami area. The year before, they were in the Panhandle.

West Nile first showed up in the United States in 1999. Most people who get the virus never know that they're infected. Most of those who get sick develop flulike symptoms such as fever, fatigue and headache.

But about one person in 150 gets severe symptoms that can lead to coma, paralysis or death.

Older people are more likely to get bad cases of the disease. State officials say they're particularly concerned about the virus in Pinellas because of its elderly population.

"It does tend to impact the elderly more," Hodges said. "They tend to be more susceptible."

West Nile isn't the only mosquito-borne disease in the area. Pasco County was put on medical alert last week after a 16-month-old girl was diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis.

To prevent mosquito bites, the health department advises residents to: stay inside at dawn and dusk; wear long sleeves and long pants; wear mosquito repellent with DEET, Picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus; and drain standing water around your home.

[Last modified August 1, 2005, 19:40:14]