Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings declared Wednesday that the city is facing an emergency as the West Nile virus spreads, killing at least 14 people in Texas and 26 nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Dallas declaration clears the way for aerial spraying to kill the infected mosquitos that carry the disease.
The United States is experiencing its biggest spike in West Nile virus since 2004, with 241 cases of the disease reported nationwide this year so far, including four deaths, health officials said last weekend, before the latest totals.
Of the 42 states that have reported infections in people, birds or mosquitoes, 80% of them have been in Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. The CDC listed a breakdown of infections by state.
"It is not clear why we are seeing more activity than in recent years," said Marc Fischer, a CDC medical epidemiologist. "Regardless of the reasons for the increase, people should be aware of the West Nile virus activity in their area and take action to protect themselves and their family."
The virus is transmitted through infected mosquitoes.
In the United States, most infections occur between June and September, and peak in August, according to the CDC.
Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash.
"Less than 1% develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis (inflammation of the brain or surrounding tissues)," the CDC said.
Those at greater risk are people older than 50 and those with conditions such as cancer, diabetes and kidney disease, or with organ transplants.
There are no medications to treat West Nile virus or vaccines to prevent infection. People with milder illnesses typically recover on their own, but those more seriously affected may need hospital care.
Health experts say prevention measures include avoiding mosquito bites, using insect repellant and getting rid of insect breeding sites.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
terrible! but wait, cigarettes kill how many?
Bravo, sir!
I am guessing they kill 0 people a year who don't smoke and where only exposed for seconds. Just saying...
Cigarettes don't attack you from the air without warning.
It's sad those folks died but a state of emergency? Come on now...
West Nile has very long-term debilitating effects. It is classified as an encephaleptic fever-meaning it effects the brain. Many times the most severe effects do not present for many months.
This is a VERY bad diease.
14 people died... Emergencies are declared for other situations where far fewer die (fires, tornado)
Yes an emergency, because the virus is in the area and a way to get approval for airborne spraying like the article says. Maybe if you read the article instead of just commenting on it you would realize this.
"The Dallas declaration clears the way for aerial spraying to kill the infected mosquitos that carry the disease." And mosquitos that don't carry the disease, and birds, and frogs and.........
Actually, birds are the first animals killed by West Nile.
Yep. Wiped out all of the blue jays around me. Just now recovering from it. The birds, not the baseball team!
Texans: This is the kind of thing you need big government for. Small government would be forced to just let you die for lack of resources.
Texan here – duh. Thanks for the news flash.
No Not reaally
Texas has a huge tax base. We would be fine with a small Govt. and probably better off. Privatize those Govt. programs!
Komarji ki prenašajo bolezen bi bilo potrebno začeti škropiti iz letal dabi uničili te komarje
Hilarious. When they stopped funding public vector control (like many Southern cities) they didn't think about the plausible ramifications. This is why the south has to stop electing anti-science politicians and choose ones who can think rationally, because all over the south unintelligent city councils are making similar bad decisions. I've heard rumor that insurance companies were widely involved in the stoppage of vector programs.
I wouldn't doubt that for one minute!
Odd that insurance wouldn't want to stop epidemics, because they pay for the health care.
Not just the South, but the whole country needs to hire rational politicians. It really matters who you vote for, because it could be your wife, husband, mother, father, or child who will be affected by political decisions.
"It is not clear why we are seeing more activity than in recent years,"
Could it be that lack of a winter last year?
"The CDC listed a breakdown of infections by state" Thanks idiots but you could have included a link. CNN = Chinese News Network
Try looking up the CDC directly, just an internet address away from here. Try CDC dot gov, or look for more specific addresses. The CDC also hides a very important report that comes out weekly, their morbidity and mortality weekly report, which lists epidemic diseases. You have to go through a few layers of addresses to find it, and it is also abbreviated. Go to the letter "M" in their search on top of their page, and it is under MMWR.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for this infomation.
Guess it's too much work for you to look it up yourself. In the time it took you to post you could have googled it and have the info.
Texas has become a 3rd world country
I live in Dallas and am appalled that they are going to be aerial spraying. One would think thousands are dying by the day, nothing like good old fear mongering and getiing all the sheeple riled up. The mayor is a tool and I am sure someone is making money off of this "state of emergengy".
I think the CDC needs to declare an emergency, and get the vaccine out there. This disease has been in the U.S. for enough years now that a vaccine should be in place, at least for those who want it or have low immune systems. It's interesting that serial killers and victims of guns are given a lot of attention, but the neglect of the development of a vaccine is just ignored, and there are many people who don't want to "waste the money," until it is a loved one who either dies or has serious brain damage. Taking care of people is not a waste of money.
Elizabeth, did you read the article at all??? It clearly states there is no vaccine for West Nile.
I don't mean to be overly critical, but vaccines take a long time and a lot of money to get to market. A lot of basic research must be done before vaccine candidates make it to animal models. From there, Phase I, II and III clinical studies are VERY expensive and require a great deal of money and risk from the private sector to bring a vaccine before the FDA, which approves very few. In the end, vaccines are not a good investment for the companies that run the game and something that with relatively little impact like West Nile will not get the attention and money required to make that leap. At present, vector control programs like spraying for mosquitos are the best mechanisms to keep arboviruses like this under control and prevent the reemergence of more serious diseases like malaria and yellow fever.
Jason, did you read Elizabeths comment at all ? She clearly stated that for as long as this problem has been around, that there SHOULD be a vaccine for it. Maybe you ought to READ before commenting.
For a while at the beginning of the summer, my neighbor's abandoned pool in north Dallas providing a breeding ground for West Nile mosquitos. After the city wouldn't do anything about it, we released fish we caught at the creek into it. Two months later, there's no mosquito larve in the pool, but there sure are a lot of guppies!
Were the fish infected?
More people died from the common cold while I read this article than have ever been killed by this non-illness. Just another media induced frenzy to sell eyeballs to the advertisers. Look into each of the "deaths". 100% of them were already on death's door with other health issues and this minor illness pushed them over. Spraying will probably directly impact more people's health than West Nile ever has.
The Normal Flu kills thousands every year.
OH NO, LET'S WORRY ABOUT NOTHING. Bunch of hippies
No matter who is making the decisions, human error will occur. Wrong decisions will be made again. People will be waterboarded and diseased. And then you will change your mind anyway. And then you will die and be replaced by someone else who will also make mistakes.
And that's just pain, suffering, and death brought about by honest mistakes. Then you have fraud to deal with. Thieves. Liars and cheaters. This is your voting pool. Enjoy the swim. Bodysuit?