West Nile Virus Impacts L.A. County Cities
No Positive West Nile Virus Mosquitoes Reported in Bellflower
About 600 Americans have died from West Nile Virus (WNV) since it hit New York in 1999. It has only taken five years for it to reach Southern California and now it's knocking on Bellflower's door. People usually get WNV from infected mosquitoes, and the mosquitoes acquire the virus feeding on infected birds.
"There have been no positive mosquitoes in Bellflower, but we did discover West Nile Virus infected mosquitoes in Lakewood and Long Beach," said Stephanie Miladin of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District (GLACVCD). “However, four positive dead crows for West Nile Virus have been reported in Bellflower."
To date, 35 people in the Los Angeles six-county area have contracted WNV, with only eight living in L.A. County. One person in Orange County has died from the infection, according to the California Department of Health Services.
"Areas with a lot of positive dead crows or other birds infected with WNV, and areas with a lot of positive mosquitoes, are where these human case are coming from, and fortunately Bellflower isn't one of them," stated Miladin.
Miladin added that about 80 percent of people exposed to WNV aren’t infected. The other 20 percent develop flu like symptoms, including fever, headache, nausea, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, and one distinguishing characteristic - a skin rash on the chest, back or stomach. Only one percent develop serious symptoms.
"We don't want to panic people about WNV because it is so rare that people develop serious symptoms,” Miladin said. “We just want to make people aware that it is there and to take some simple precautions."
To learn how to decrease exposure to WNV mosquitoes, visit www.bellflower.org or contact the organizations listed below.
Greater L.A. County Vector Control District:
www.glacvcd.org, (562) 944-9656
West Nile Virus in California:
www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/wnv.cfm
http://westnile.ca.gov
West Nile Virus in Horses:
CDFA Animal Health Branch, (916) 654-1447
www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/wnv_info.htm
To Report Dead Birds:
877-WNV-BIRD (968-2473)
