Second resident contracts West Nile virus infection in Miami-Dade, health officials say
A second case of West Nile virus has been reported in Miami-Dade County.
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County said a second county resident was confirmed to have the West Nile virus infection from local transmission. This is the county’s second case in 2020.
The county has been placed under a mosquito-borne-illness alert. The health department said West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the U.S. There are no vaccines to prevent it or medications to treat it.
Fewer than 1 percent of people develop a serious or fatal illness. People with mild symptoms usually recover within a week with treatment. People over 60 and those with weakened immune systems are at an increased risk for severe disease, health officials said.
Roughly 1 in 5 of those infected develop a fever or other symptoms, such as headaches, pain and fatigue. Symptoms typically appear between two and 14 days after the infected mosquito bites.
Health officials are reminding residents to “Drain and Cover.” Drain standing water in garbage cans, gutters, buckets, pools, coolers, birdbaths and pet water bowls. Also throw away old tires, drums, bottles, cans and other broken appliances.
Cover skin with clothing and apply repellent. Officials advise using repellents with DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol and IR3535.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
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