West Nile Virus in Michigan

First there was the report of the horse in Montcalm County that has West Nile Virus, then today (08-16-2012), On the same day of a confirmed case of West Nile virus in a Kent County man, a woman in Washtenaw County died in what health officials are calling the first fatal case of the disease in Michigan this year.

There are two other highly-probable cases in Kent County, which involve a 67-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman. Officials are waiting for follow-up tests to be completed for a final diagnosis of those two individuals. There was also a case of West Nile virus in a human reported in Allegan County

This year, Michigan has seen 24 cases of West Nile viruses. That’s the most cases in the state through the second week of August since 2002, according to the MDCH.

The CDC says 693 cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in people across the US through the second week in August — the highest number of WNV cases reported to the organization during the same period since the virus was first detected in the United States in 1999.

“We do worry about that, and we’re on standby. We’re waiting to see what happens,” said Kent County Health Department spokesperson Lisa LaPlante.

“One of the problems we are seeing is, because we had a very mild winter and warm spring and a very hot summer, the mosquito population is going to climb, especially now that we’ve had more rain,” said LaPlante.

There are stories all across the country of many more cases of West Nile this year than there have been in recent years.

The mayor of Dallas declared a state of emergency in the ninth largest U.S. city on Wednesday (08-15-2012) to combat the spread of West Nile virus infections.

The CDC says 693 cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in people across the US through the second week in August — the highest number of WNV cases reported to the organization during the same period since the virus was first detected in the United States in 1999.

Now we are getting plenty of rain which means there will be plenty of standing water for the breeding of mosquitoes. So far this summer we have had a very low population of mosquitoes around, but now I think we are going to see an extremely high number of mosquitoes showing up.

Mosquito Squad of Grand Rapids wants everyone to remember the 5-T’s, these will help you in the fight against mosquitoes in your yard.

1. Tip

2. Toss

3. Turn

4. Tarp

5. Treat

If you have any questions on the 5-T’s, call Mosquito Squad of Grand Rapids (616) 920-8069 we will be happy to help you in the fight against these pests.