West Nile is Spreading

Louisiana has everything it takes to add to the spread of West Nile and there are quite a few cases around the state; even in Calcasieu.

The United States is experiencing one of the biggest outbreaks of West Nile virus in history, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Tuesday, 1,118 cases of the mosquito-borne disease had been reported. That’s the highest number ever reported at this point in the year since the disease was first detected in the U.S. in 1999. If cases continue to grow at this pace, the West Nile outbreak could be the largest ever in the United States, said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. So far, 41 people have died from West Nile infections, compared to the 2011 season, in which 43 people died during the entire year. About 630 people have developed the rare form of the disease, which affects the nervous system. The other cases involved what doctors call West Nile fever, a condition that can cause fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting. Texas, the state hit hardest by the outbreak, has reported 537 cases of West Nile, close to 300 of which have been the neuroinvasive form.