The West Nile virus is back, according to New York City health officials.
On Tuesday, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released a statement detailing the first signs of the mosquito-borne virus appearing this season in the Bronx and Staten Island. Until now, no one has been infected.
Blood sucking insects become a nuisance between spring and late summer. The health department has established 106 surveillance traps in the five boroughs and will be “stepping up” its efforts in areas of “persistent” West Nile activity, such as the use of pesticides to curb the adult population while simultaneously targeting infected larvae before they can mature and bite. , according to a statement.
Last year, at least four New Yorkers tested positive for the disease.
West Nile virus is mild to asymptomatic for 80% of those who have it, but adults over the age of 50 are at increased risk for serious disease due to a weakened immune system, according to DOH. Symptoms may resemble the flu or food poisoning: high fever, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems are common; More extreme symptoms, such as confusion, stiff neck, tremors, seizures, and paralysis, indicate that the virus has caused a serious infection of the brain and spinal cord.
There is no known cure for the disease, only a treatment for the symptoms.
Symptoms usually appear within three to 15 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito, which generally makes its home near slow, stagnant water, such as ponds, swamps, puddles, or water buckets, and tends to bite at higher rates. high during dusk and dawn. .
To reduce exposure, DOH suggests using an approved insect repellent that contains picaridin, DEET, lemon eucalyptus oil, or products that contain the active ingredient IR3535, which is the ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate insecticide, and remove standing water from its property. .
Now, officials added, it would be a good time to clean those gutters.
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