Montgomery County Precinct 3 is ramping up mosquito abatement efforts to address early signs of a demanding West Nile virus season, Commissioner James Noack said during an Aug. 13 press conference.

The county will begin aerial spraying of the Precinct 3 area in response to the eight reported human cases of West Nile throughout the county, which included the death of an elderly man, Noack said.

Dr. Mark Escott, medical director for Montgomery County Public Health District, said the death was of a man in his 80's who had west nile, and other health issues.

"He had West Nile and he died," Escott said. "For the purposes of documentation and reporting this is a West Nile death."

Precinct 3 has also seen about 11 sites where mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus.

"South Montgomery County is the gateway for mosquito-borne illnesses in Montgomery County," Noack said. "That is primarily due to our proximity to Spring Creek, as well as the San Jacinto River. So we start testing in early May, and based on our results we start feeding information to other portions of the county. We are testing in [Montgomery County] Precinct 2 right now, we are testing in Precinct 4 right now."

Precinct 3's mosquito abatement program begins by testing mosquitos for West Nile, then locally spraying right of ways, storm drains and culverts, before moving on to aerial spraying.

Noack said county officials are looking at options for contracting and funding for the aerial spraying, but expect the cost to range from $150,000 to $400,000 in the precinct. He said countywide spraying could cost as much as $500,000 to $750,000.

Escott said there had been three reported human cases of West Nile at this time in 2012, which peaked at 17 cases by the end of October of that year. With the eight cases already reported this year, he said county officials agreed preventative measures are essential.

"Going back to 2005, this looks to be starting early and significantly heavier than in years past," Escott said. "This is why Commissioner Noack and the commissioners agreed that we need to try to get ahead of this to try to prevent that peak that we would normally see in September or October."

Escott said the county is seeing more than twice the number of West Nile cases than it had in 2012.

"We can save a significant number of lives by doing this now," Escott said.

Aerial spraying is expected to begin within the next couple of days, Noack said.