West Nile Virus Reaches Epidemic Proportions In Michigan

According to a report by Patricia Anstett in theDetroit Free Press, West Nile Virus disease, a mosquito-born illness —has reached epidemic proportions in Michigan, particularly in older suburbs that ring metro Detroit and Grand Rapids, state health officials are warning.  With mosquitoes in their peak breeding season and cases continuing to rise quickly, state health and agricultural experts urged residents to take precautions to avoid getting bitten.  Michigan now has 80 cases of the disease, which required hospitalization of 62 people, and four deaths, all in metro Detroit, according to  the interim chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Community Health.  The latest death was an 86-year-old Wayne County residents. All four deaths were among people over the age of 50, who are at higher risk of contracting the illness.  Cases reported this year are on track to match Michigan’s worst West Nile outbreak in 2002, when 644 people contracted the disease and 51 died.  While only one in five people bitten by infected mosquitoes develops symptoms, the disease can be fatal or serious in one in 150 people, he said. For a link to current cases in Michigan, go to: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/emergingdiseases