West Nile Virus Arrives in B.C.
By 250 News
Saturday, August 22, 2009 03:34 PM
Prince George, B.C. – West Nile virus has surfaced in B.C.
Health authorities are confirming the West Nile virus has been found in a mosquito pool in the South Okanagan. This is the first time West Nile virus has been detected in B.C.. In addition to the positive confirmation of West Nile virus in the mosquitoes, there are two people ( both in their late 40’s) from Kelowna with symptoms of West Nile Virus and health authorities are waiting for results of the tests on those humans to see if in fact they have West Nile Virus. Those test results should be available late Monday or early Tuesday.
If the human cases are confirmed, they will be the first to have West Nile Virus in Canada this year, and the first ever to have contracted the virus in B.C.
Officials can’t pinpoint the exact location of the infection as the two adults with the suspected virus travelled in the South Okanagan, and there are numerous mosquito pools in the area where they had travelled. The South Okanagan and the Kootenay/Boundary regions were considered the areas most likely to see West Nile Virus, Dr. Bonnie Henry of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says previous testing in the Northern Health region has shown the north has neither the abundance of mosquitoes nor the heat necessary to create conditions necessary for the development of West Nile Virus.
Dr. Paul Hasselbach of Interior Health says while the focus should be on getting the message to those who live in the South Okanagan, anyone travelling to the south of the province should be taking precautions to prevent mosquito bites. Wearing long sleaved shirts, long pants, using a protective bug spray and avoiding the outdoors when mosquitoes are at their worst, namely dusk and dawn can all help to reduce the risk of mosquito bites.
He advised everyone to clean eaves troughs, gutters, storm troughs anywhere there is a chance for water to be blocked and allowed to stand still. “Certainly by reducing the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes all of us will reduce the risk of contracting West Nile Virus.”
Dr. Bonnie Henry says now that West Nile has been confirmed in B.C, she expects to see it show up in different areas of the Province over the coming years.
In the past, Northern Health’s WNv surveillance programs included trapping mosquitoes and collecting dead corvids (ravens, crows, magpies and jays) for testing by the BC Centre for Disease Control.
In 2008, Northern Health changed it’s West Nile program, citing a low risk to Northern communities and the fact that West Nile Virus had not surfaced in B.C.. Last year it stopped trapping mosquitos and dead corvids for testing. Instead, the campaign switched to increased education around the need for personal protection when travelling to areas where WNv is active.
Whn the switch was made, Northern Health indicated that if there was any indication the risk has increased, it would reintroduce surveillance activities.
West Nile Virus passes from infected birds to people and animals via mosquitoes. While the risk is low, West Nile virus can cause serious, and sometimes long-term, health effects.
Symptoms of the illness can include:
- Fever,
- headache,
- sensitivity to light,
- muscle weakness,
- fatigue and
- a rash.
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Posted by: seamutt on August 22 2009 5:40 PM
West Nile is a variation of the same disease family that includes malaria.
If you would like help stop the spread, and cure this disease, you can donate the processing power of your computer, even as you sit and read the news, to helping researchers from the University and Chicago, and University of Texas.
Go to http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ sign up and make sure you tick the box for the Discovering Dengue Drugs project.