New West Nile cases add urgency to mosquito measures

"Just so you won't run out of things to worry about," as Paul Harvey says, the West Nile virus has been reported in 12 Nebraskans so far this year.

That means a lot of us have been exposed to the disease, which is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird.

According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, fewer than one person out of 150 people who get bitten by an infected mosquito and become infected will get seriously ill.

But last year, at least two people died from the disease, and 264 human cases of West Nile virus were reported, compared with 188 in 2005, 57 in 2004, 2,366 in 2003 and 174 in 2002 -- the first year the disease made it to the state.

No human cases have been reported in Southwest Nebraska, although infected mosquitoes have been discovered in Chase County.

West Nile fever can cause flulike symptoms such as fever and muscle weakness, and West Nile encephalitis can cause inflammation of the brain, disorientation, convulsions and paralysis.

People over 50 and those with weak immune systems are especially vulnerable to the disease, according to experts.

What to do? A lot of the same things we should be doing in summertime any way:

* Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active and biting, most often from dusk to dawn.

* Despite the heat, if you have to be outdoors, wear long sleeved shirts and pants, if you can.

* Eliminate standing water to reduce places where mosquitoes can reproduce. That includes removing discarded tires or keeping them dry and under cover, turn over or covering anything that can collect standing water, put drain holes in containers that collect water and can't be discarded, clean rain gutters and clean out trash and undergrowth where mosquitoes thrive.

The City of McCook is spraying for mosquitoes again to try to protect residents; the residents should do what they can as well.