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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Fourteen human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Utah so far this summer, including six new cases in Utah County, bringing the total there to nine.
There have been three human cases in Salt Lake County and one each in Tooele and Davis counties, state health officials said.
West Nile virus infections are underreported, Salt Lake Valley Health Department spokeswoman Pam Davenport said.
"Most people -- those who get a little sick -- don't report it. The ones reported are those where people are more seriously affected," she said.
Last year, 52 people in Utah were confirmed infected with West Nile virus. One case was fatal.
Mosquitoes infect people with West Nile after sucking the blood of birds with the infection. Two species of mosquitoes spread the virus in Utah.
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department and Salt Lake City, Magna and South Salt Lake Valley mosquito abatement districts planned more aerial mosquito spraying Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to midnight, weather permitting.
The life cycle of the mosquitoes that carry West Nile is about 10 days. After the first aerial spray, mosquito abatement specialists said the mosquito population dropped significantly, but they are still finding plenty infected with the virus.
They are spraying the same area they sprayed before: 2,000 feet on either side of the Jordan River corridor south from 2100 South to the Utah County border, 9,500 acres of marsh area north of Magna, and 28,000 acres of marsh area west and north of the Salt Lake City International Airport.
Information from: Deseret Morning News,
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
