This is the worst year yet for West Nile virus infections. The virus is spread through mosquito bites. Most people bitten by infected mosquitoes won’t get the illness, but many will. So far this year, forty-one people have died from West Nile and more then 1300 people have fallen ill.
A warmer winter has caused mosquito problems in other parts of the world, too. While the exact reasons for mosquitoes vary by region, in Texas, where West Nile has been the worst, drought combined with rains have given mosquitoes ample breeding grounds. The drought has lowered the amount of flow in the rivers and creeks, leaving plenty of stagnant puddles for mosquito larvae.
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West Nile Virus Outbreak Worst in U.S. History (via Environment News Service)
ATLANTA, Georgia, August 22, 2012 (ENS) – A mosquito bite can kill, and this year 41 Americans have found that out the hard way as they lost their lives to the mosquito-borne disease West Nile virus. Forty-seven of the 50 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds or mosquitoes…
Mosquito fogging photo via Shutterstock