The Oklahoma City-County Health Department said Thursday morning it has two new mosquito samples with West Nile virus.
These aren’t human cases, and epidemiologist Megan Souder says there’s no way to predict whether more people will contract the illness.
“What’s most important to know is that it is present in the area, and this season we have had two human cases,” Souder said. “Which, those happened a while ago, about a month ago. So there haven’t been any new ones reported.”
Statewide, there have been 12 confirmed cases of West Nile in 2015. Souder says the department is stressing prevention to Oklahoma County residents, but also taking precautions.
“Specifically, we treat many pools of stagnant water with larvicide,” Souder said. “We also take complaints of standing water, and we address those.”
The Oklahoma City-County Health Department says the record-setting rainfall in May and June brought a lot of mosquitoes to the region early in the West Nile season, but what they’re seeing so far is still fairly normal.
The department says the best way to prevent West Nile is to drain standing water where mosquitoes breed, use an insect repellent containing DEET, and staying indoors in the morning and evening when the insects are most prevalent.
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