PESTILENCE WATCH:West Nile threat just warming up

With the first confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Logan County and mosquitoes in northern Colorado testing positive for the virus, health officials are urging residents to go on the defense."We want people to take protective measures now," said Jane Viste, spokeswoman for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.The weather has played a role in speeding up the breeding of mosquitoes, said Joe Cox, a biologist for OtterTail Environmental Inc., a firm specializing in mosquito control.
"The early wet spring with the recent heat, we have the potential to have an active West Nile season," Cox said.The Golden-based company monitors and controls mosquito populations for cities around the state, including Boulder, Lakewood and Greenwood Village.OtterTail began spraying in three neighborhoods in Erie on Thursday night."I have no objection to them spraying - in fact I'm for it," said Nell Kilpatrick, who lives in Orchard Glen, just south of Arapahoe Road.The Logan County resident who contracted the virus is 51, according to county spokeswoman Deanna Herbert.Herbert said the county is not releasing the patient's identity to protect anonymity in a small county.More people can be expected to contract the virus soon, said John Pape, an epidemiologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment."We're certainly right now hitting the start of the peak season," he said, adding that most people are infected between July and mid-August.
Mosquitoes caught in Fort Collins and Loveland on June 19 are the first confirmed with the virus, Viste said.Since those mosquitoes have been caught, the number of Culex mosquitoes, those that are most likely to carry West Nile, has doubled."This of course means that if there are mosquitoes carrying it, they could be biting people and infecting people right now," Viste said.There are also reported human cases in Mississippi, South Dakota and Iowa, according to a June 12 report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.West Nile virus in some people creates no symptoms, in others causes flu-like symptoms.In rare cases, the virus can cause paralysis or death, according to the CDC.Colorado had 345 reported cases of the virus in 2006 and seven deaths, Pape said."We clearly are in a state where we're going to report and have more activity than our colleagues back East," he said.

Source:Denver Post

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