Hot summer raises West Nile risk

An Oak Brook woman is the state's first West Nile fatality this year, authorities said.

The woman, who was in her 80s, was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus in late August and died earlier this week, the DuPage County Health Department reported.

So far this year, 14 cases of West Nile disease have been reported in Illinois. Last year, there were only five cases and no deaths.

Public health officials say a hot summer like the one just completed increases mosquito activity and the risk of disease.

And the danger isn't over. In the past three weeks, 48 percent of the mosquito samples collected by the DuPage County Health Department have tested positive for West Nile virus, said Kevin Dixon, the department's director of environmental health.

"The West Nile virus is still prevalent in the environment," Dixon said.

The state's first case of West Nile was reported in a woman in her 50s in Carol Stream. Other DuPage County residents who have been stricken are a woman in her 60s from Lombard, a man in his 70s from Elmhurst and a man in his 60s from Naperville.

All became ill in August, Dixon said. He did not have any information about how they are doing now.

People in their 50s and older have the highest risk of becoming seriously ill after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

The health department catches mosquitoes in traps in 35 locations throughout DuPage County and tests them for the virus. The surveillance program will continue until the first hard frost, which could come as late as early November.

Residents can find out the prevalence of West Nile virus in their towns by clicking on the surveillance map on the DuPage County Health Department's website, www.dupagehealth.org/wnv.map.

Recommended precautions include wearing long sleeves and long pants when outside, using insect repellent and eliminating sources of standing water where mosquitoes breed.