barrykind
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Member # 35
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Orange Man First Texan To Get West Nile Virus
07-23-2002
The West Nile Virus is officially here in Southeast Texas, in not just one, but two human cases.
Tuesday morning, an Orange man became the first person in Texas to have a confirmed case of the mosquito-borne disease and now an elderly Houston man has also come down with the virus.
Doctors say a blood test confirmed that Richard Hicks had contracted the potentially fatal West Nile Virus and he's not alone. A 74-year-old West Houston man has also tested positive for the virus.
News of the two cases hit Orange County and now neighbors there are doing all they can to keep safe and healthy.
Mosquitos have never really bothered Joseph Matte, until now.
"It's scary you can lose a life just because of a mosquito bite," he says.
After hearing his neighbor is the first confirmed human case of West Nile Virus in Texas, he's checking his yard for standing water, which breeds mosquitos.
"I heard he was sick, she (his wife) told me she went to the hospital with him and they weren't sure what he had," Matte says.
Now doctors are sure. Richard Hicks of Orange has the West Nile Virus. Orange County's Mosquito Control Director says they've been fighting the disease for months.
"As it moves westward, as far as human cases are concerned it's up to seven in Louisiana. It's just a matter of time until that moves westward," Patrick Beebe, Orange County's Mosquito Control Director, says.
Until now, only birds, horses and mosquitos had tested positive for the virus in Texas. While cases in humans are rare and most infected people recover, West Nile can prove fatal for the elderly, the young and sick.
That's why mosquito control is hitting Orange County hard.
"We've been spraying the area heavily since that time. What we do in the intances where we have these suspected and confirmed cases is we switch over to a stronger material and go in and treat the immediate area and all surrounding areas. Then we branch out from there," Beebe says.
Richard Hicks is expected to make a full recovery, but doctors recommend anyone who goes outside at night, or around dusk or dawn, take serious precautions to avoid the infected-mosquitos.
They recommend wearing long, light colored clothing along with mosquito repellent that contains Deet.
end...
Is this an end time plague? and its right im my home town too..Yuck..
![[help]](graemlins/1zhelp.gif)
My son got 30 est bites tonight..pray for us folks. ![[Prayer]](graemlins/prayer.gif)
Thankyou ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
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Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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