Mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus may soon be in Delaware County.
According to the Indiana State Department of Health Web site on June 20 an Allen County resident may have been the first human case this year to contract the West Nile Virus.
Last year every county in Indiana tested positive for the West Nile Virus with Delaware County suffering one of the 11 deaths in Indiana, according to the ISDH Web site.
No cases in Delaware County have been reported this year, but Ball State professor Bob Pinger believes that no part of the county is safe.
"In the city they are breeding mosquitoes in birdbaths and blocked rain gutters," Pinger said. "In the country they are in septic tanks that aren't kept properly."
Last year, human cases of the West Nile Virus reached 39 states killing 284 people, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.
A vaccine has not been developed for humans although a vaccine has been found for horses.
Last year in Delaware County there were fewer than five probable human cases, seven horse cases, four mosquito groups and one dead blue jay that tested positive for the virus, according to the ISDH Web site.
The mosquitoes that have been found to carry the disease will most likely not bite during the day, Pinger said. The ones that are carrying the disease will be out at night.
However, according to the CDC Web site mosquitoes carrying the virus are out at all times of the day, especially at dusk and dawn.
The ISDH put in place a disease surveillance system in 2000, which will monitor mosquitoes and birds that may carry the West Nile Virus.
The system also consists of infectious disease physicians, infection control practitioners, and hospital laboratories that test for mosquito-borne diseases.
Delaware County representatives were unable to be reached for comment about measures the county is taking to control the mosquito population, but Pinger said they have done some fogging in the past.
The CDC Web site states that people who are going to be outdoors should wear repellent at all times. The best forms of insect repellent contain the chemical "N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide."
According to the CDC Web site, this repellent offers the longest lasting protection after one application.
Symptoms of the first stages of the West Nile Virus include fever, headache, body aches and an occasional rash, according to the CDC Web site. However, 20 percent of people infected never become ill. The first stages usually occur three to 14 days after infected.
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