Mosquito- borne virus found for the first time in Nebraska

NORTHWEST OMAHA, Neb.– The Jamestown virus was found in sample taken from Lake Cunningham on June 25 but the case was just confirmed.

• Mosquito-borne virus found for first time in the state
• The virus can be spread to people but it is rare
• Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse said people should still take precautions

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

The Jamestown Canyon Virus was found in samples from mosquitoes collected from Lake Cunningham in Douglas County. The samples were collected June 25 but the virus was just found through testing.

The virus can be spread to humans through mosquito bites and Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse says people who are infected can experience a range of symptoms like: headaches, fever or some respiratory symptoms, even encephalitis - swelling of the brain.

Although the virus has come to Omaha, huse says it is rare for people to become infected, but neighbors should still take precaution.

"it's still pretty rare for people to actually become ill with this particular virus so while it's not probably an emergency it is something people should consider, alongside things like West Nile Virus," Huse said.

Huse says they don't yet know why, when or how the disease arrived in Omaha. And are looking at all possibilities.

"There are a lot of different theories around how that could have happened, anywhere from it’s been here for a while and we simply haven't been testing for it for very long and so it could have been here, and we just happened to now detect it,” she said. “Could be due to our changing climates and that we are having heavier rainfall at times."

Neighbors can protect themselves from contracting the virus by wearing repellent… especially around bodies of water, wearing long pants and shirts and draining any water on properties.

The health department told KMTV there have been no reported cases here in Nebraska, at least not yet.