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Sam Penrod ReportingThere has been yet another death in Utah, tied to the West Nile Virus. This time a man from Carbon County has died. Health officials fear there could be more deaths in coming weeks.
The death of a man in Carbon County brings the number of deaths blamed on West Nile Virus in Utah this year to three, all men over 65-years old.
Dr. Joseph Miner, Utah County Health Department: "We've seen meningitis and encephalitis in all age groups even small children, so any age is susceptible to very serious disease. The most serious and risk of death is in seniors over 65."
In Utah County eleven new cases have been reported, bringing the number of West Nile cases statewide to 65, 42 of them in Utah County.
Dr. Joseph Miner, Utah County Health Department: "Our total number of mosquitoes have been only half of our peak last year, so we've done an excellent job of controlling mosquitoes. It's just that the infection in the mosquitoes is much higher than last year."
The trend across the country has been to have very bad years for infections, but then people and the birds who carry West Nile seem to become immune to it over time.
Dr. Joseph Miner, Utah County Health Department: "Other nearby states have been hit much harder that we have, but still this is plenty hard enough for us and hopefully our worst year and less in subsequent years."
Experts warn the infected mosquitoes are still biting and we should all take precautions in the evening, to avoid West Nile Virus.
Dr. Joseph Miner, Utah County Health Department: "There are plenty of mosquitoes out, still infected and actively feeding on birds and humans. The advice is don't slack off from protecting yourself until we've had a good freeze."
Only about one person in every 150 people infected with West Nile will actually get sick, but those people typically require time in the hospital and it can be life threatening.
