West Nile virus is here to stay unless mosquitoes, around since the dinosaur-laden Jurassic Age, disappear.
Two more Mississippi cases were reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health, bringing the total of known 2009 cases to four.
Two are in Harrison County.
WNV occurs statewide and throughout the year, but the peak is during the mosquito reproduction months of July, August and September.
In 2008, there were 65 diagnosed cases.
So far this year, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 26 known cases nationwide.
Officials use the word "known" because the majority of people who contract WNV never know it because symptoms -- headache, fever, swollen lymph nodes and rashes -- are mild and flu-like.
But since 1999 when WNV was first introduced, 1,130 Americans have died, 45 of them in Mississippi. To the small percentage whose infections result in encephalitis or meningitis, WNV is debilitating and deadly, so health officials continually advise mosquito control measures around the house and personal protection, including use of repellents.
WNV affects humans, birds, and other animals, such as horses. Although CDC reports the virus was discovered in 1937 in a Ugandan woman in the West Nile district, WNV didn't reach the U.S. until 1999 in New York. It took three more years to reach Mississippi when in 2002, 192 cases were reported, the largest to date. Only 52 cases were reported in 2004.
The disease is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, not from another person, water or animal. The only known exception was a blood transfusion, but since 2003 the U.S. blood supplies has been monitored.
WNV is just one of the latest mosquito-borne diseases that have affected Mississippi Coast history.
Iberville, the French explorer credited with opening the region for settlement, is thought to have died of a mosquito-borne disease. Across the state, 19th-century headstones indicate epidemics of yellow fever. Recently, a case of St. Louis Encephalitis was diagnosed in Forrest County.
Modern health officials are so aware of the potential dangers of mosquito-borne diseases that many, including MSDH, maintain Web sites and hot lines for WNV and other dangers such as St. Louis Encephalitis.
"West Nile virus season is here, and it is important that all Mississippians take steps to protect themselves and their family members from mosquito-borne diseases," state Epidemiologist Dr. Mary Currier said when the first cases were reported in mid-July.
Currier encourages Mississippians to reduce the risk of WNV by removing sources of standing water, avoiding mosquito-prone areas, especially dusk to dawn, wearing protective clothing and applying an effective repellent. To see more of The Sun Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sunherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.