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Texas has recorded 530 non-neuroinvasive cases this year for a total of 1,040 cases.

Texas has been working with the CDC this summer to help eliminate mosquitos that carry the disease, including aerial spraying of insecticide in parts of North Texas. Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Dr. David Lakey said noted that in areas that received two consecutive aerial sprays, the number of mosquitoes decreased by 93 percent.

“Transmission is contingent on mosquitoes,” Lakey said. “The more you have, the greater likelihood of an outbreak.”

Mosquitoes get the virus from feeding on infected birds and then spread the virus to people they bite.

While experts say high temperatures may have contributed to the boom in cases, Lyle said officials are still studying what exactly has made it such a deadly year for West Nile, especially in the Dallas area. Dallas County has seen the most deaths statewide with 13.

Petersen said more than 70 percent of the cases this year come from Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Michigan and Louisiana. All states except Alaska and Hawaii have found West Nile virus in people, birds or mosquitoes this year.

Symptoms for both forms of West Nile can include headaches and fever, but those with the neuroinvasive form can also suffer from symptoms including coma, convulsions and paralysis.

West Nile Virus: What You Need To Know  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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