Mosquito sample with West Nile virus found in Oakley, Calif.

August 24, 2011 By Rick Hurd in Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

A mosquito carrying the West Nile virus was discovered in eastern Contra Costa County, Calif., marking the first time this year vector control officials have found such a sample in the county, a spokeswoman said Friday.

West Nile is a potentially deadly illness that is spread through . Its symptoms in humans are often mild, ranging from fever to diarrhea, body pains and vomiting. Birds are also frequent victims and may carry the virus.

Workers collected the sample this week in the area of West Cypress Road and O'Hara Avenue, said Deborah Bass, who is with the county Mosquito and Vector Control District.

A dead crow infected with the virus was found July 1 near Treat Boulevard and Bancroft Road in Walnut Creek, Calif., the vector district's website said. But no mosquito sample was discovered in that incident, Bass said.

"Dead birds can provide a reservoir for the virus," she said. The latest find "came after the discovery of a dead bird led to a search of mosquitoes in the area."

Late summer generally is when mosquitoes with West Nile virus are found, Bass said. But the milder summer weather has slowed the spread of the disease because mosquitoes multiply faster in , she said.

To reduce the risk of West Nile virus, Bass urged people not to let water sit in or to leave ponds or untreated. One neglected pool can produce more than a million mosquitoes and affect a five-mile radius, she said.

"Unfortunately, with the many foreclosures, you have many pools that have standing water," she said.

West Nile virus originated in East Africa in 1937 and arrived in the United States in 1999. It first appeared in California in 2003 and can be found in all 58 of the state's counties, according to the state Department of Public Health.

According to the mosquito district, 23 people in Contra Costa County have been diagnosed with since 2006, including two who died from the disease that year.

In California overall there have been six deaths from the disease.

(c) 2011, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus

International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 7 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Shortage of key drug hampering U.S. efforts to control TB, report says

(HealthDay)—A shortage of a critical tuberculosis drug has hampered the efforts of health departments across the United States to contain the spread of the highly infectious lung disease, federal officials ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 8 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Heart healthy lifestyle may cut kidney disease patients' risk of kidney failure

Maintaining a heart healthy lifestyle may also help protect chronic kidney disease patients from developing kidney failure and dying prematurely, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the Am ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 8 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Flu vaccine also linked to narcolepsy in adults, study reports

Finnish researchers unveiled new data Thursday to link the Pandemrix flu vaccine to a higher risk of the sleeping disorder narcolepsy in adults.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 9 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Second child contracts polio in Pakistan's Waziristan

A second child has contracted polio in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border after the Taliban banned vaccinations there nearly a year ago, a UN official said Thursday.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 9 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Controlling mood through the motions of mitochondria

(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...

Motion quotient: IQ predicted by ability to filter motion (w/ video)

A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain's unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose ...

Multiple research teams unable to confirm high-profile Alzheimer's study

Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.

ACP issues recommendations for management of high blood glucose in hospitalized patients

High blood glucose is associated with poor outcomes in hospitalized patients, and use of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) to control hyperglycemia is a common practice in hospitals. But the recent evidence does not show a ...

Scientists discover molecule triggers sensation of itch

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as ...

Researchers find common childhood asthma unconnected to allergens or inflammation

Little is known about why asthma develops, how it constricts the airway or why response to treatments varies between patients. Now, a team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University Medical Center ...