By Jake Fogal
ILLINOIS – West Nile Virus has been confirmed in four Illinois counties as mosquito’s begin to buzz this summer season.
Fifteen mosquito batches have tested positive for the virus in 2023, and the current counties that have detected West Nile are Cook, Morgan, St. Clair, and LaSalle.
Angie Crawford with the McLean County Health Department, says there is no vaccine for West Nile virus.
“Symptoms that you want to watch out for are things like headaches, body aches, rash, fevers. In severe cases, convulsions, coma, paralysis and in rare cases it can lead to death,” Crawford said.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 34 human cases of West Nile virus were reported last year, causing eight deaths. So far this year, no human cases have been reported.
IDPH reminds residents to follow the Three R’s: Reduce, Repel, and Report.
- REDUCE – make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut. Eliminate, or refresh each week, all sources of standing water where mosquitoes can breed, including water in bird baths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires, and any other containers.
- REPEL – when outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt, and apply an EPA-registered insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, IR 3535, para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
- REPORT – report locations where you see water sitting stagnant for more than a week such as roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes. The local health department or city government may be able to add larvicide to the water, which will kill any mosquito larvae.
Jake Fogal can be reached at [email protected].
