Douglas County, Illinois has the first positive case of the West Nile virus in the state for this year. The infected bird is a blue jay, and was found in Arcola Township May 20.
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While the species that transmits Zika is not established in Rhode Island, individual mosquitoes carrying the virus are sometimes found in local traps.
Common symptoms include fever, nausea, headache and muscle aches. Symptoms may last from a few days to a few weeks. Still, health officials say to be cautious as four out of five people infected may not even show symptoms.
Last year, West Nile virus was in 64 counties in IL, and there were 77 human cases and nine deaths in the state attributed to the virus.
“As far as the population of mosquitos, the Culex population, is the kind that can actually spread West Nile here in the valley”, said Biologist Doug Fledderjohn. They recommend that people older than 50 or those with compromised immune systems take extra precautions to prevent contracting West Nile.
While Zika virus is also primarily transmitted through the bite of a mosquito, the main type of mosquito that carries Zika virus, Aedes aegypti, is different and is rarely found in IL. In 2012, there were 15 reported human cases, seven in 2014, and two in 2015, but the host carrier is a certain type of bird. Fix or replace screens that have tears or other openings.
Wear shoes, socks, long sleeve shirts and trousers when outdoors during dusk to dawn when mosquitoes are most prevalent.
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REPORT – report locations where you see water sitting stagnant for more than a week such as roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes. Officials say the mosquito know for spreading the Zika virus is rarely found in IL.
