4 Cases of West Nile Virus Confirmed in Kane County

KANE COUNTY, IL -- The Kane County Health Department has confirmed four cases of West Nile Virus in the county so far this year.

The cases were diagnosed in September and all have since recovered.

The cases include a 57-year-old Aurora man, a 71-year-old Elgin man, a 41-year-old Elgin man and a 29-year-old Montgomery man, according to a news release.

Late summer and early fall are the times when health officials are likely to see human cases of WNV.

The best way to prevent West Nile disease or any other mosquito-borne illness is to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and to take personal precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Precautions include:

• Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn. Use prevention methods whenever mosquitoes are present.
• When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
• Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens.
• Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.
• Change water in birdbaths weekly. Properly maintain wading pools and stock ornamental ponds with fish. Cover rain barrels with 16-mesh wire screen. In communities where there are organized mosquito control programs, contact your municipal government to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes.

Additional information about West Nile virus can be found on the Kane County Health Department’s Web site at www.kanehealth.com/west_nile.h... or the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Web site at www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/wnv.htm. People also can call the IDPH West Nile Virus Hotline at (866) 369-9710 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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