Editor’s note: This story was updated to include more information from Environmental Health Administrator Samantha Blair about preventing West Nile Virus infections.

WICHITA COUNTY ( KFDX/KJTL ) — Local health officials have now confirmed more human cases of the West Nile Virus in Wichita County.

According to Samantha Blair, Environmental Health Administrator with the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District, there have been four positive cases of the West Nile virus in humans in Wichita County.

This comes less than a week after local officials confirmed the first human case of West Nile Virus in Wichita County since 2015 on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Blair said that while the overall mosquito activity for 2024 has been near the average for Wichita County, the amount of West Nile Virus numbers in the mosquito pools that have been collected are higher than average this year.

Blair encouraged residents of Wichita County to take preventative measures against mosquito bites before heading outside. But avoiding mosquito bites is easier said than done.

“The mosquitoes that cause West Nile virus are considered to be fairly weak fliers,” Blair explained. “So if you’re going to be spending time outside, like sitting out on your porch or anything like that, having moving air around you can really help prevent those bites. That’s turning on a fan, something like that so that they can’t fly and get to you.”

Additionally, Blair recommends wearing long sleeves and pants when doing outdoor activities such as yard work and always using an EPA-approved repellent. She also stresses the importance of reading the instructions.

“Any time you’re using an insect repellent, you’re going to want to look at the label and see where, when, and how you’re going to apply it,” she said, explaining that some repellants should be applied over clothes and some over exposed skin.

Blair further explained that in 80% of West Nile cases, most people don’t experience symptoms, but it could be serious for the 20% that do.

“Most of them, it’s just your general upper respiratory flu-like illness kind of thing,” she said. “The problem, though, is that a small subset of those people that do show symptoms can have a neuroinvasive form of the disease.”

Despite the uncertain margin, taking preventative measures during these active months is important.

“It’s not concentrated in any one area,” Blair said. Our recommendation is that anyone who is going to be outside take precautions against mosquitos.”

This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for updates as more information becomes available.

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