Staff Writer
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
The Vigo County Health Department has confirmed its second positive sampling of mosquitoes for the West Nile Virus.
The sampling of mosquitoes was collected July 13 at various sites around the county. Testing was conducted by the Indiana Department of Health.
Everyone is warned to take precautions to prevent infection, and to eliminate possible breeding grounds for the Culex mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus.
Precautions include:
• Wear a long-sleeved shirt and apply insect repellent containing DEET.
• Maintain windows and door screens to keep mosquitoes out of your home.
• Inspect and clean rain gutters.
• Walk around your property and look for any containers that can hold water or have standing water, such as unused flower pots, wading pools, bird baths, dog dishes, or any type of container that can hold water and has been left for more than a day.
Sydney Elliott, spokeswoman for the Vigo County Health Department, said no individual human cases of West Nile Virus have been found in Vigo County.
Several area counties have reported positive mosquito samplings.
West Nile virus usually causes a mild form of the illness, which can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands or a rash.
However, a small number of individuals can develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis and other neurological syndromes. Some individuals may die from the infection, according to the state Department of Health.
Those over age 50 and some immunocompromised people (for example, transplant patients) are at the highest risk for getting severely ill when infected with West Nile Virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
More than 20 Hoosiers have died from the illness, including one in 2011, since Indiana had its first human case of West Nile virus in 2002.
West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that have first bitten an infected bird. A person bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms three to 15 days after the bite.
For more information on West Nile Virus, go to www.cdc.gov or www.statehealth.in.gov.
