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First Human Case of West Nile Virus Confirmed in Toronto for 2016

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The district, which serves Newington, Berlin, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield, reached out to Newington residents after results from a trapping station in Churchill Park came back positive for WNV.

Authorities warn there could be an eventual rise in cases from mosquitoes breeding in standing water that remains. “The more organic material in that water, the better”. During 2015, the virus was detected in mosquitoes collected at trap sites in 24 towns. The Montgomery County Public Health District continues to ask homeowners to do their part to help fight West Nile Virus. The most common symptoms are a fever and headache. About 80 percent of those infected do not exhibit any symptoms.

There is more concern about the potential for the spread of West Nile virus, now that a dead bird has been found to have the disease.

The more unsafe eastern equine encephalitis virus has been found in Middleboro, Kingston and Yarmouth. OR had only one human case in 2015, although the state has seen more than a dozen cases in six out of the past 10 years.

CHRISTUS St.Patrick Hospital infectious disease physician, Dr. Tim Haman, says of the four confirmed cases of the virus in Calcasieu Parish over the past two weeks, he has treated three of those patients. Anyone who is bitten by a tick, and finds the insect on them, should remove it and save it for testing, she said. “Some people, a few people, get encephalitis or meningitis from it, and a few people actually die from it”.

There is no West Nile Virus vaccine available for humans.

Wear a repellent containing DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR 3535.

Parents of young children can also discourage mosquito bites by placing netting over strollers when out for a walk with their infants.

– Avoid camping near freshwater swamps and use mosquito netting in tents. Eliminate all sources of standing water on your property by emptying flower pots, old auto tires, buckets, and other containers.

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– Store boats, wheelbarrows, and containers upside down.

West Nile virus cases are being reported at their highest level since 2009 in Calcasieu Parish