West Nile cases ‘concerning’ but no cause for panic, officials say

EDINBURG, TEXAS ( ValleyCentral ) — The Hidalgo Public Health Authority says it is slightly concerning that three cases of West Nile have already been detected this year. However, he says the current situation is no reason to panic.

The cases have all been attributed to patients in the western part of the county and are also being deemed travel-related.

Hidalgo County Health Public Authority, Dr. Ivan Melendez says all three patients are doing well and none have been hospitalized. He says the county is working to prevent mosquito-borne diseases.

“What we’re doing is we’re working with other associations to trap mosquitoes and monitor to see if we find them, so we can find particular patterns, educating people so that they can understand what it is they do to prevent and thirdly, if the mosquito numbers reach a certain count number, regardless of whether they’re carrying a disease or not, then we spray,” Melendez said.

Melendez says most people who do get West Nile virus tend to recover pretty well.

Community members say they are taking steps to protect themselves and taking matters into their own hands.

“Put repellents near the water, turn the buckets over if you get some rain and stuff like that,” said resident Benito Villarreal. “Just to keep safe.”

Villarreal says he also has lights and scented candles to scare the mosquitos away. Others say they wish there would be more effective ways to target them.

“I wish there was a way to breed mosquitoes, so they would not, so they could cross-fertilized in such a way that they could eliminate their production,” said Eileen Bhandery.

Melendez says throwing away anything that collects water when it rains is also recommended.

Those most at risk of West Nile are those who have a weakened immune system.

Melendez says the symptoms of both West Nile and Dengue are very similar.

“Whether it’s Dengue, hemorrhagic fever, Malaria, West Nile Virus, it’s your typical myalgias or muscle pain, weakness, lassitude, respiratory like cough, congestion, symptom, develop, rashes, but by far the most common presentation is sore, achy bones, muscles with fever,” Melendez said.

He says the county will be giving more information about mosquito-borne illnesses at 10:30 a.m., Friday morning in a press conference.

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