By the end of July 2015, Central Ohio, including Columbus, Ohio and its surrounding areas, was found to have more mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus (WNV) compared to other areas of the state, according to information that comes from the Ohio Department of Health and Franklin County Public Health. While there may be more mosquitoes in Central Ohio carrying WNV, there are only 2 reported cases of human WNV infection in Ohio so far in 2015, and both cases were from outside the Central Ohio and Columbus, Ohio areas.

West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus that causes West Nile Fever and belongs to a family of viruses called Flaviviruses, which is a family of viruses also responsible for Dengue, Yellow Fever, and Tick-borne Encephalitis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website states that, “Most people get infected with West Nile virus by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds.” The CDC Website further states, “Fortunately, most people infected with WNV will have no symptoms. About 1 in 5 people who are infected will develop a fever with other symptoms. Less than 1% of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurologic illness.” The Ohio Department of Health website explains some of the more severe medical problems that can arise from WNV and states, “…can lead to severe fever, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord).”

In a July 10, 2015 Press Release, Ohio Department of Health Medical Director Mary DiOrio, M.D stated, “There is more mosquito activity now than we’ve seen at this time of year for several years – but still much lower than in our WNV outbreak years of 2002 and 2012.” Recently, West Nile Virus has been found in Central Ohio areas. Jose Rodriguez of Columbus Public Health explains a potential cause in a recent press release, “Rains have caused standing water in many areas of Columbus and Worthington, and mosquitoes breed and multiply easily in such water.” As of July 29, 2015, according to the Ohio Department of Health, there were 28 WNV positive samples from 7 counties with the most being in Franklin County, which had 12 positive samples, followed by Licking county, which had 4 positive samples. The following counties had one positive sample: Richland, Summit, Lucas, Portage, Cuyahoga. As of August 6, 2015, Franklin County Public Health reports one positive pool in these traps, unless otherwise stated within parantheses, at the following areas: 2182 Ferris Rd, Clinton, Dublin (10 positive pools in multiple trap locations), Franklin North, Gahanna (3 positive pools in multiple trap locations), Grandview, Hilliard (3 positive pools in 2 trap locations), Westerville, New Albany, Norwich, Perry, Sharon (3 positive pools in 2 trap locations), Upper Arlington, Westerville, Whitehall (2 positive pools in 1 trap location), and Reynoldsberg. As of July 29, 2015, there were no reported WNV illnesses in the Central Ohio area according to the Ohio Department of Health. However, in Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties, the Ohio Department of Health reported two confirmed cases of WNV.

For more Information:

Centers of Disease Control’s General Page for West Nile:

http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/

WedMD’s Site for West Nile General Information:

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/west-nile-virus-topic-overview

Ohio Department of Health’s Data for Cases of WNV 2002-15:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/bid/zdp/Diseases/wnv/wnvmap.pdf

Ohio Department of Health’s Arbovirus Surveillance update from July 29, 2015, includes state WNV case and trap information:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/bid/zdp/Animals/Mosquitoes/oharboupdate.pdf

Franklin County Public Health Department’s West Nile Trap location Pool Testing Information:

http://www.myfcph.org/wnv.php

http://www.myfcph.org/pdfs/mosq/2015/2015WNV+Pools.pdf

Ohio Department of Health’s July 29, 2015 Memo discussing the 2 West Nile Virus Ohio cases so far in 2015 and prevention tips:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/news/WNV%20First%20Human%20Cases%202015.pdf

Ohio Department of Health West Nile Virus Information:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/wnv

Photograph of Culex Mosquito that carries WNV from wikimedia commons:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CulexNil.jpg