Public health officials fear West Nile virus cases may reach epidemic proportions in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys.
Already, the number of cases reported this year in Los Angeles County is seven times the number from last year with the vast majority of the cases in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys
Figures released this week by the county’s Public Health Department’s Acute Communicable Disease Control show 28 cases of West Nile virus have been diagnosed Los Angeles county.
Sixteen of those cases are in the San Fernando Valley.
Orange County has reported three cases of WNV diagnosed in humans and 24 cases diagnosed in birds this year.
It has been more than a decade since the first WNV case was diagnosed in the United States and eight years since health officials identified the virus in dead birds in Los Angeles County.
The disease is transmitted by mosquitos. Most people who get the disease will not actually get sick, but those who do often suffer flu-like symptoms.
Los Angeles County Vector Control officials who are responsible for mosquito abatement said the hot spots for the WNV mosquitos were Studio City, Encino, Burbank and Van Nuys.
Already some 350 mosquitos countywide have tested positive for the virus and around 170 birds have also been found infected with the disease. These figures compare to those of last year when only 47 infected mosquitos were found and only 29 infected birds were located.
What’s different this year?
L.A. County officials are blaming a combination of increased rainfall and abandoned homes.
Some of these homes have standing water in their swimming pools which serve as a breeding ground for mosquitos.
Public health officials have advised local residents to keep their mosquito repellent handy.
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