Mosquitoes collected in North Las Vegas test positive for West Nile virus
A group of mosquitoes collected in North Las Vegas has tested positive for West Nile virus, making it the first group to test positive in Clark County this season, public health officials announced Monday.
One group of three mosquitoes collected in the 89032 ZIP code, which incorporates the area from roughly Craig Road to Lake Mead Boulevard and from about Decatur Boulevard to Fifth Street, tested positive for West Nile, the Southern Nevada Health District said in a statement.
Mosquitoes in a group are crushed up and tested together, meaning if even one mosquito tests positive, the entire group does.
Meanwhile, a horse in the 89021 ZIP code, near Moapa Valley, also tested positive for West Nile, the health district was informed Friday.
West Nile can be serious in horses and may cause symptoms including stumbling, anorexia, muscle twitching and total paralysis, according to the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.
People and horses can contract the virus if bitten by mosquitos carrying West Nile.
Mosquitoes get the virus by biting West Nile-infected birds, Touro University associate professor of basic sciences Karen Duus said.
Most people who contract West Nile don’t show symptoms, but about 20 percent of infected individuals become ill with symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea and rash, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
Between about 0.7 percent and 1 percent of people with West Nile become seriously ill, Duus said.
West Nile can lead to death. The elderly and people with cancer, diabetes and certain other diseases are at higher risk than the general population for serious illness.
There is no West Nile vaccine for humans, but horses can be vaccinated.
At least one human case has been reported in Clark County every year since 2011, health district statistics show. No human cases have been confirmed so far this season.
“The identification of West Nile-positive mosquitoes is another reminder to the public of the importance of taking steps to eliminate breeding sources around their homes and to protect themselves from mosquito bites,” health district Chief Health Officer Joseph Iser said in the statement.
Contact Pashtana Usufzy at pusufzy@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow@pashtana_u on Twitter.
