West Nile Virus Prevention

Last year Texas set a record for the number of West Nile virus cases with over 600 cases and more than 20 confirmed deaths. Nothing has been reported yet in Travis County, but the risk still remains.

Prevention 

• Dusk and Dawn: Try to stay indoors at dusk and dawn. That is the time when mosquitoes likely to carry the infection are most active.
• Dress: Wear pants and long sleeves when you are outside.
• DEET: Apply insect repellent that contains DEET. Read and follow label instructions. Spray both exposed skin and clothing with repellent.
• Drain: Get rid of standing water in your yard and neighborhood. Old tires, flowerpots, clogged rain gutters, birdbaths and wading pools can be breeding sites for mosquitoes.  

To report a mosquito problem, 

call (512)978-0370

What Are the Symptoms of WNV?

• Serious Symptoms in a Few People. About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop severe illness. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent.

• Milder Symptoms in Some People. Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have symptoms such as fever, headache, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days, though even healthy people have become sick for several weeks.

• No Symptoms in Most People. Approximately 80 percent of people (about 4 out of 5) who are infected with WNV will not show any symptoms at all.
  
  
  
  
  How Does West Nile Virus Spread
  
  
  Infected Mosquitoes. Most often, WNV is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. Infected mosquitoes can then spread WNV to humans and other animals when they bite.
  
  
  Transfusions, Transplants, and Mother-to-Child. In a very small number of cases, WNV also has been spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, breastfeeding and even during pregnancy from mother to baby.
  
  
  Not through touching. WNV is not spread through casual contact such as touching or kissing a person with the virus.