West Nile Light Year Likely, But Keep Mosquito Precautions | Louisiana News

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (PA) – Summer is shaping up to be a light season for West Nile virus in Louisiana, but people still need to be on their guard against mosquitoes, according to a state epidemiologist.

A West Nile virus case in New Orleans is among six around Louisiana so far this year – and among five involving the brain or nervous system.

“We expect it to be very similar to 2020, where we have seen around 20 cases” of the mosquito-borne virus, said Julius Tonzel, infectious disease epidemiologist at the state Department of Health, on Tuesday.

Those cases included 14 dangerous neuroinvasive diseases involving the brain or other parts of the nervous system, according to department statistics.

Around the same time last year, there had been a neuroinvasive case; in 2019, there had been six. The total number of such cases in 2019 was 11.

The parish of East Baton Rouge had two cases this year affecting the brain or nervous system, one in each of the parishes of Livingston, Orléans and Ouachita. DeSoto Parish has reported a case of influenza-like West Nile fever.

Experts consider reports of brain and nervous system infections to be more reliable indicators of West Nile severity than reports of West Nile fever or infections without symptoms.

About 90% of all infected people have no symptoms, and nine out of 10 contract West Nile fever.

Precautions include the use of insect repellant, no holes in window and door screens, and the wearing of long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

“It’s very hot, so people won’t want long pants and shirts,” Tonzel said, but West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne viruses remain a threat.

People should also make sure that there is no standing water in their garden. “Even something as small as a bottle cap – anything can be a hotbed for mosquito larvae,” Tonzel said.

The first American case of West Nile virus was in new York in 1999, with Louisiana’s first – and there was only one that year – in 2001. The following year was the worst the state has seen, with 204 neuroinvasive cases .

The number has been under 50 for 11 of the years since 2002, and topped 100 in just three more years – most recently 160 in 2012. The highest totals since then were 61 in 2014 and 58 in 2018.

There appears to be a cycle of around 10 years, so there could be a “really big hike” next year or into 2023, Tonzel said.

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