Saturday, September 1, 2012

3rd round of aerial spraying for West Nile virus scheduled for portions of Denton County, Texas - @startelegram

West Nile virus symptoms

Most people who are infected with West Nile virus will not have any type of illness or may experience mild fever, headache and body aches before fully recovering. If illness were to occur, it would occur within 3 to 15 days of being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Symptoms

Fever, headache and body aches, occasionally with a skin rash on the trunk of the body and swollen lymph glands.

In a very few individuals, particularly the elderly, the virus can affect brain tissue, cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord), but more commonly presents as a febrile illness. Symptoms of encephalitis include rapid onset of severe headache, high fever, stiff neck (in meningitis), muscle weakness, confusion and loss of consciousness

Source: Tarrant County Public Health Department

Preventing West Nile Virus

The Tarrant County Public Health Department recommends the 4Ds.

Drain standing water on your property so mosquitoes won't breed.

Use insect repellent that contains DEET.

Stay indoors at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most prevalent.

Dress in long sleeves and pants and spray insect repellent on the clothes.

How do you feel about aerial spraying in the effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus?

Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting.

A third round of aerial spraying for some portions of Denton County has been scheduled after Friday's night spraying was cut short by high winds.

Portions of some Denton County cities were not part of the planned Friday night aerial spraying to ward off mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus after strong winds cut the spraying time short. According to reports from Dynamic Aviation's official twitter feed, the spraying was cut short before portions of Southlake, Flower Mound, Lewisville and Haslet could be sprayed. It's unclear how much spraying was completed before grounding the planes Friday night. Spraying is to resume Saturday night starting at 9 p.m.A third spraying for those areas that were not sprayed Friday night has been planned for Sunday, Bob Martinez, emergency preparedness coordinator for Denton County Public Health said."The areas that did not get sprayed last night will get sprayed tonight with the rest of the County and then again Sunday night," Martinez said. A new map of the areas that will be affected by a third spraying is being prepared and Martinez said it should be available on the county website later today. This is a developing story, check back here for updates.Nicholas Sakelaris contributed to this report.

Looking for comments?