No West Nile found here, but repellent use advised




Red Babb, a supervisor at the Port Aransas Public Works Department, stands next to a city truck with mosquito fogging equipment in the back. The truck cruises the town’s streets, spraying insecticide when mosquitoes are swarming.

Red Babb, a supervisor at the Port Aransas Public Works Department, stands next to a city truck with mosquito fogging equipment in the back. The truck cruises the town’s streets, spraying insecticide when mosquitoes are swarming.

Nueces County officials are advising county residents, including Port Aransans, to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites to prevent infection by the West Nile virus.

More cases of the mosquito born virus have been found in the United States this year, more than any other year, according to news reports.

The virus has killed 36 Texans so far this year, including one person in Nueces County, according to reports. Texas has had more West Nile cases than the rest of the nation. The virus has hit the Dallas-Fort Worth area hardest.

Three people have been confirmed in Corpus Christi to have been infected with the virus.

Corpus Christi City-Nueces Public Health District’s public information officer, Noelia Rodriguez, said she knew of no cases of West Nile virus being found in Port Aransas.

Deputy City Manager Dave Parsons said the city doesn’t send out its fogger truck to spray for mosquitoes until after rains. The three cases in other parts of Nueces County aren’t enough to warrant sending out the city’s fogger truck, Parsons said.

It takes three consecutive nights of spraying “to really put the hurt” to mosquitoes in Port Aransas, Parsons said.

It’s been a couple of months since Port Aransas sent its fogger truck out, said Red Babb, of the city’s public works department.

Parsons said mosquitoes aren’t completely absent from Port Aransas, but he hasn’t had any callers contacting city hall to complain about them.

Port Aransas had a rain Saturday, but it may not have been big enough to produce a significant mosquito outbreak. Parsons said city officials will keep a close watch on the situation and will send out the fogging truck if conditions warrant it.

Rodriguez said folks should take individual responsibility for preventing mosquito bites. She had this advice:

• Use mosquito spray with an ingredient known as deet.

• Keep in mind that mosquitoes are most active at dusk and dawn.

• Wear long sleeves and pants and consider staying indoors when mosquitoes are most active.

• Make sure ripped screens on windows and doors aren’t letting mosquitoes in.

• Get rid of rainwater that stands in outdoor flower pots, buckets and barrels.

• Change the water in bird baths and outdoor pet dishes weekly.

• Keep children’s wading pools empty and turned on their sides when not in use.

Some 80 percent of people infected with West Nile virus never experience symptoms and recover on their own, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

About one in 150 people infected with the virus will develop severe illness, the CDC has reported. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. Neurological effects may be permanent.

People over 50 years old are the most likely to come down with West Nile virus, the CDC said.


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