aWhile there’s been a lot of talk about the spread of West Nile virus, the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States, the overall number of cases may not be cause for concern.
of beginning A human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in Colorado this year was diagnosed Monday after infected mosquitoes were found in seven of the state’s 64 counties.Some mosquitoes carried diseases discovered Sunday in Annapolis, Maryland.
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This will 48 Human cases have spread to 12 states that have already reported infections to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2023, as have eight domestic malaria cases in Florida and Texas.
Marm Kilpatrick, an ecologist who studies mosquitoes at the University of California, Santa Cruz, previously said: Washington Examiner WNV is the “major public health threat from mosquitoes in the United States” and has been for most of the 21st century.
WNV has been based in the US since 1999, but cases are rising peaked In 2003 it was almost 10,000. His second-best year was 2012, when there were about 6,000 cases nationwide.
The total number of cases in 2022 is 1,126, with more than 100 human cases by July, with the majority of infections occurring in August and September.
Approximately 30 of the WNV-infected humans became infected this year. Made a contract Maricopa County, Arizona, has been suffering from higher-than-average cases since 2021.
EPA fight Human exposure to WNV is increasing due to climate change, it said, as higher temperatures “could accelerate mosquito development, bite rates, and disease incubation in mosquitoes.” Mild winters and higher precipitation also contribute to increased mosquito numbers.
Kilpatrick previously said: Washington Examiner Mosquito species that can carry WNV thrive in urbanized settings, and urbanization has contributed to the increase in populations of this species over the past decades. He also suggested that declining levels of DDT, an insecticide banned in the United States in the 1970s, may also be contributing to increased mosquito populations in certain areas.
WNV causes severe symptoms symptoms One in five infected people will develop symptoms such as fever, body aches, vomiting and diarrhea. Fatigue and weakness from the illness can last weeks or months after initial recovery, according to the CDC.
However, more severe symptoms can affect the central nervous system and cause inflammation of the brain or spinal cord. These extreme complications occur in nearly 1 in 150 infections, and people over the age of 60 are most at risk.
Some experts worry about an increase in mosquito-borne diseases, but others say there is little reason to panic. The dramatic decline in mosquito-borne diseases in the United States, Kilpatrick said, was largely responsible for the presumed malaria eradication in the United States in the 20th century, thanks to “mosquito houses” with screened windows and air conditioning.
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Nevertheless, wearing long sleeves and long pants and using insect repellents can reduce personal risk by preventing mosquito bites. Emptying areas of stagnant water, such as playground equipment and unused flowerpots, also reduces the risk of infection by eliminating mosquito breeding grounds.
Since 1999, there have been approximately 57,000 WNV cases in the United States, resulting in approximately 26,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.
