What to know about West Nile amid summer heat

As summer ramps up, Austin Public Health officials are warning residents to be aware of the risk of West Nile virus.

Last year, one person in Travis County died from the West Nile virus and 90 human cases were confirmed, according to APH. On May 28, APH identified the first pool of mosquitos positive for the virus in Southeast Austin.

Zooming in

West Nile is the most-common mosquito-borne disease in the United States, according to APH.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the symptoms include:

• Fever
• Headache

No vaccine or medicine is available to treat or prevent the disease in people, according to the CDC.

About 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms and roughly 1 out of 150 infected people will develop a serious illness, which can be fatal, according to the CDC.

Zooming out

APH recommends the following four tactics to reduce the risk of mosquito bites:

• Drain standing water. Mosquitoes can breed in as little as a teaspoon of standing water
• Take extra caution from dusk until dawn. This is when the type of mosquito most likely to spread the disease is active
• Wear pants and long sleeves outside