EL PASO COUNTY — The El Paso County Department of Public Health says that the first case of West Nile Virus in the county for 2024 has been confirmed.
According to public health officials, a person tested positive making it the first human case.
West Nile Virus, is transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The West Nile Virus most commonly occurs during August and September according to the El Paso County Department of Public Health.
Most people will not show symptoms if they are infected, one in five infected people will experience flu-like symptoms, and fewer than one in 100 infected individuals will suffer a deadly neurological illness.
The El Paso County Department of Public Health says these tips will help protect you:
- Use an EPA-registered insect repellent, such as DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. The effectiveness of non-EPA-registered insect repellents is unknown, including some natural repellents.
- Limit time outdoors during the times of day when mosquitoes are most active, typically around dusk and dawn.
- Wear loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts and pants, especially when outdoors around dusk and dawn.
- Use screens on windows and doors. Repair holes in screens to keep mosquitoes outdoors
- Frequently drain standing water from areas around the house such as bird baths, portable pools, tires, planters, pet water dishes, and children’s swimming pools. Mosquitoes can lay eggs and grow in standing water.
- Treat standing water—such as ponds, ditches, clogged rain gutters, flowerpots, plant saucers, puddles, and buckets—with larvicide "doughnuts," which can be purchased at hardware stores.
- Larvicide doughnuts use a naturally occurring type of bacteria to control mosquitoes.
To provide a better context for our viewers we have compiled a map of all the cases of West Nile Virus reported since 1999 by state.
According to the data from the Centers for Disease Control, Colorado is the second state with the most reported cases at 6,698, just trailing California which has reported 8,007 cases since 1999.
According to the El Paso County Public Health Department, there has been a sharp rise in West Nile Virus in the past year, they provided the following data on recent years' numbers.
2023: 51
2022: 0
2021: 2
2020: 0
2019: 0
Click here to learn more about West Nile Virus.
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