mosquito
Posted: Friday, September 7, 2012 5:15 pm | Updated: 9:24 pm, Fri Sep 7, 2012.
Posted on September 7, 2012
A 77-year-old Willingboro man died last weekend after contracting the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, health officials said Friday.
The man, whose identity was not released, died Sept. 2, the day after he tested positive. But officials said he had been hospitalized since Aug. 26 with fever, weakness and respiratory distress.
The man is believed to be the first Burlington County resident to ever die from the disease, which first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in 1999.
To date, the state has confirmed 14 other cases of West Nile virus in New Jersey. The Willingboro man is the first death this year.
There were seven human cases of the disease last year, but no deaths. In 2010, there were 30 human cases that resulted in two deaths.
State and county health officials said efforts are under way to try to combat the spread of the virus through mosquito spraying and other means, but they urged residents to take precautions, such as using mosquito repellant, wearing long sleeves and long pants, and removing any items on their properties that collect standing water.
Less than 1 percent of those infected with the West Nile virus develop severe health complications, but the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are considered a higher risk, according to health officials.
"We are urging all residents, and especially those most at risk, to protect themselves against mosquito bites," state epidemiologist Tina Tan said Friday.
On Thursday night, the Burlington County Mosquito Division began spraying pesticide in areas within a half-mile radius of sewage treatment plants in seven municipalities where traps turned up positive samples of West Nile.
Areas around the Palmyra, Moorestown and Willingboro plants were treated Thursday, and spraying was scheduled to occur Friday night in Bordentown Township, Delran, Florence and Mount Holly.
An eighth location where a positive sample was found, just south of Tuckerton Road in Shamong, was also scheduled to be treated Friday.
Since May, the division has discovered a total of 29 positive samples of West Nile in 16 county towns as well as two samples of Eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but severe form of mosquito-transmitted disease.
Officials said four dead birds found in the county have tested positive for West Nile virus this summer and two horses have tested positive for encephalitis.
In response to heightened concern, the state Department of Environmental Protection plans to make additional funding available for mosquito testing for the remainder of the summer and early fall, which is when the risk of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases is the highest.
David Levinsky: 609-871-8154; email: dlevinsky@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @davidlevinsky
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Posted in Burlington county times news, Breaking news, Willingboro on Friday, September 7, 2012 5:15 pm. Updated: 9:24 pm. | Tags:
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