The first West Nile Virus cases of 2018 are popping up across the country this week — from St. Louis to
Dallas, where an elderly woman died from the virus.
The virus usually only affects older adults and those with weakened immune systems.
Those who have the virus rarely have any symptoms, but may have a fever or experience vomiting.
Even though the West Nile Virus hasn’t tested positive in Wichita County in two years, health officials aren’t taking any chances.
“We set traps for mosquitoes and we collect the mosquitoes and send them to Austin to be identified and tested to see if we have West Nile Virus in the area,” Susan Morris, with the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Health District, said. The southern house mosquito likes hot weather. It’s a late summer mosquito. It also likes stagnant water so it sort of makes sense that it would be more prevalent when you have a drought and there’s more stagnant water than we have fresh water.”
As a reminder, the type of mosquito that carries the West Nile is most active at dawn and dusk.