Editor's note: West Nile virus continues to be a hot topic throughout the country. Here's a look at recent activity throughout the U.S. from the CDC and various news sources.
WNV ACTIVITY MAP. CLICK HERE to view a map of West Nile virus activity in the United States reported to CDC as of July 12, 2005.
WEST. In California, for the first time, mosquitos carrying the West Nile Virus have turned up in the Bay Area.
There have been numerous cases of West Nile Virus being found in birds. But now that mosquitos have it, all the insects need to do is bite someone to spread the sometimes deadly disease.
The Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District confirmed a mosquito taken out of Brentwood tested positive for West Nile Virus.
Source: KRON
A Washington woman thought to have the state's first human case of West Nile virus disease doesn't have the illness after all.
State Department of Health (DOH) officials said a blood test conducted last week shows the young Spokane woman does not have antibodies to the virus, which in rare cases can cause critical illness and death.
The woman, who is in her 20s, had a headache and fever in late June, and her physician had a private laboratory test her blood. The lab thought it was a probable West Nile case, and state health officials listed it as such
Source: Seattle Times
SOUTHWEST. The Arkansas Department of Health confirmed the state's second human case of West Nile virus this summer on Monday, this time in Sebastian County.
The other confirmed human case was in Boone County, according to a Department of Health news release.
Source: Arkansas News Bureau
In Texas, two birds recently found in different parts of College Station have been identified as Brazos County's first known victims of West Nile virus this year. Officials not sure why West Nile cases are dropping sharply
Source: The Eagle.com
TENNESSEE. Health officials in Chattanooga say a dead crow collected in Soddy-Daisy is the first bird to test positive for West Nile virus this year in Tennessee.
Hamilton County health department administrator Becky Barnes says that since West Nile virus can spread to humans, it is important to monitor bird populations.
The disease is spread by mosquitoes.
Last year, Tennessee had 14 human cases with no deaths
Source: Newschannel5.com
OHIO. Health officials are puzzled over why the West Nile virus, which killed 31 Ohioans just three years ago, has been drastically reduced as a summer threat.
Some say changes in the weather and wider immunity might be the reason the number of cases in humans has dropped more than 97 percent during the last two summers, but they have no definitive answer.
"We like it," said Dr. Marguerite Erme of the Akron Health Department about the drop in reported cases. "But as to why it's occurred - we're not sure."
More than 400 cases were reported in Ohio in 2002. That number dropped to 108 in 2003, and then to just 12 last year. Eight people died in 2003, and two in 2004. So far this year, one case has been reported in the state, in a 26-year-old man from Darke County in western Ohio.
Source: Akron Beacon Journal