West Nile Virus has had all summer to spread (going between birds and mosquitoes then to humans), and people who may have caught it earlier in summer have had time to incubate it and get diagnosed, raising awareness about the disease. That’s all leading into late-August/September, AKA peak West Nile season.
Where is West Nile Virus? The thing about mosquito-borne illnesses is that maps don’t really do them justice. We can lay out where certain mosquito breeds range, but that doesn’t show everything. With Aedes aegypti (which carries Zika, Dengue, and other tropical illnesses), for instance, both southern California and Florida have the mosquito. But southern California isn’t as hospitable a climate, so Florida has thousands more. An even bigger factor for mosquitoes is control: and that varies wildly between counties, even if they’re right next to each other. How much money is spent, how updated/modern the techniques are, how much the community is involved (one abandoned/severely neglected backyard can undo everything).
In a nutshell, you should look both at your own county and neighboring counties before ruling out your risk for West Nile Virus.
Here’s the good news: preventing West Nile is easier than all the newer threats of Zika, Dengue, and Yellow Fever.
You can avoid mosquitoes carrying West Nile by staying inside at dusk and dawn, wearing long sleeves/pants and bug spray if you do go out, and keep standing water out of your yard.
Remember that pets can get sick too, so try and time their outings away from peak mosquito hours.
Don’t forget the immune support of colloidal silver. A little boost daily for humans and pets can help everyone stay healthy into fall! (It does seem like it’s always the season for one disease or another!).
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