Edmunds County Reports First 2005 Case of West Nile Virus in Humans

Aug. 4–The state reported four new cases of West Nile virus in humans on Wednesday, including one in Edmunds County.

New detections were also reported in Butte, Clay and Dewey counties. It is Edmunds’ first case in 2005.

The statewide total of reported people infected by the skeeter-borne disease this year is now 20, with 53 percent being female and 47 percent male. Victims’ ages range from 14 to 62. No one has died from WNV this year in South Dakota. Last year in South Dakota, one person died from West Nile and 46 people contracted it.

Of the cases fully investigated this year, 93 percent have the flu-like West Nile fever and 7 percent the sometimes fatal West Nile neuroinvasive disease, a more serious condition that causes brain swelling.

Four of the state’s 20 human cases this year have been blood donors who showed no symptoms of having the disease. The state reported two of these four cases on Wednesday.

Brown and McCook counties each have two human WNV cases; Beadle, Brule, Butte, Campbell, Charles Mix, Dewey, Douglas, Edmunds, Pennington, Shannon, Stanley and Tripp each have one. The blood donor detections are in Butte, Clay, Hand and Hughes counties.

The state Department of Health also reported Wednesday that three new mosquito pools in Beadle County tested positive for WNV, bringing the total in that county to five.

As previously reported, Brookings and Hughes counties each have two pools testing positive; Lincoln and Pennington counties each have one.

Birds have tested positive in Davison, Douglas, Lyman, Moody and Roberts counties, and one horse in Spink County has died from WNV.

The health department recommends the following defenses against mosquito bites:

–Use mosquito repellents containing DEET or picaridin.

–Wear shoes, socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirts.

–Limit time outdoors at dusk and dawn.

–Eliminate standing water, where mosquitoes breed.

–Support local mosquito-control efforts.

Precautions are especially important for the elderly, pregnant women and transplant patients, and people with a severe or unusual headache should see a doctor, according to a news release from the health department.

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