West Nile risk reportedly increases this week
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The state Department of Health warns that Minnesotans run a higher risk of contracting West Nile virus this week.
Even though overall mosquito numbers are dropping, there's a spike in the kind of mosquito that transmits the virus.
This year, 29 Minnesotans have contracted the virus and two have died, said Dave Neitzel a state epidemiologist.
The risk of West Nile virus is much higher in western and central Minnesota, agricultural parts of the state, because the type of mosquito that transmits West Nile virus is more common in agricultural areas than in cities.
Still, the chances of contracting West Nile virus from a mosquito are very low, and most people's immune systems fight it off, Neitzel said.
But he nevertheless recommends that people use mosquito repellents when venturing outside at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes feed.
Neitzel said the elderly are most susceptible to suffering serious symptoms from the virus.
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