West Nile found in Kane County

Health officials have detected the West Nile virus in Kane County for the first time this year.

A crow collected by the Kane County Health Department on July 10 in Batavia tested positive for the virus.

Department spokesman Tom Schlueter said West Nile's arrival has become an annual expectation since it first appeared in Illinois in 2001. Last year, there were 13 cases of the virus in Kane County.

"This is the time of the year to be mindful of it," Schlueter said.

Residents should take several precautions during the next few months to guard against the virus, Schlueter said. Among other things, property owners should remove standing water on their properties and make sure family members use DEET-based insect repellents.

West Nile also has appeared this year in mosquito batches in Wayne, Warrenville, Naperville, Bloomingdale and Glendale Heights in DuPage County. In Cook County, Aug. 1 lab results of a bird found in Palatine confirmed the virus. Health officials in McHenry and Lake counties said they have yet to find any incidences of West Nile.

Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said 11 counties, including Kane, have found West Nile this year.

"We're pretty much on course to where we were last year in terms of counties," she said.

She said people who own birdbaths should change the water a few times a week and be mindful of standing water in flower pots or old tires, although prevention will not be 100 percent effective in the near future.

"It's certainly the best way to protect yourself," she said. "We see it every year and it will continue."

Of the 101 human cases in Illinois last year, four people died of the virus. The symptoms include fever, headache and body aches, although the Center for Disease Control says 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms at all.

As a precaution, Arnold said residents should try to avoid being outside from dusk till dawn and if they are, long-sleeved shirts are preferred.

The main culprit in the transportation of the virus is the Culex mosquito. It thrives in warm weather and standing water.

Schlueter said the floods in the early part of the summer might not have directly resulted in the arrival of the virus. But if residents do not remove standing water which result from the floods, the likelihood for West Nile increases.

County health departments across the state lay out mosquito traps, in hopes of detecting the virus.

So far this year, 82 batches have had the virus, including several found in May in Cook County.

Despite the discovery in Batavia, Schlueter knows from experience that the virus will probably appear elsewhere in the county.

"We're by no means out of the woods," he said.

Protect yourself

Health officials say there are several things you can do to help avoid West Nile virus.

• Get rid of any standing water on your property, including water in old tires and flower pots.

• Clean gutters to ensure storms don't leave water pools.

• Replace water in birdbaths a couple of times a week.

• Wear DEET-based insect repellent.

• Avoid being outside between dusk and dawn; if unavoidable, wear long pants and long sleeves.

• Replace damaged screen doors.

Source: Kane County Health Department, Illinois Department of Public Health