Officials In Fresno County Alert People About Possible Spread of West Nile Virus

The officials of Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District in Fresno County, California, have alerted people in the region about a possible spread of West Nile Virus.

The officials found 46 Culex mosquitoes carrying potentially serious viruses. While 43 of the dangerous mosquitoes carried West Nile virus, the rest of them had St. Louis encephalitis.

“Every year it's here, so even though we do surveillance, we're always collecting West Nile virus mosquitoes in this area,” abc30 quoted Katherine Ramirez, who is with the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District.

West Nile virus (WNV) is commonly spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito and it is a leading cause for mosquito-borne disease in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Most people infected with WNV do not feel sick. About 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. About 1 out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness,” reported the CDC.

The first case of this virus was reported in the region in 2004. Since then, the Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District has been kept busy. Its employees have been doing everything ranging from using larvicide or fish to ponding neglected swimming pools and basins to control dangerous mosquito population in the region.

“We do an ultra-low volume spray in an area when we do find infected mosquitoes. We also continue to do surveillance to make sure that mosquito population has been reduced,” Ramirez said.

The efforts of Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District kept the people in the region safe from getting infected. But there could be a potential spread of this infection in regions, including Clovis, Fresno and Sanger.

The spread of infected mosquitoes in the region may put people in danger of getting infected and causing problems like tremors and paralysis.