One month after the Alachua County Health Department found two Gainesville chickens that tested positive for West Nile virus, Anthony Dennis, county environmental health director, said the county is buzzing with surveillance and precautions.
There have been 4,249 cases of West Nile reported nationwide so far, including 168 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dennis said the health department’s strategies have not changed in the last month. It continues to run weekly blood tests on sample chickens to look for the West Nile antibody, which can indicate the disease’s presence in an area.
He said the department also continues to collect mosquito samples to monitor the numbers of the Culex nigripalpus mosquito variety, the species capable of carrying West Nile if infected.
Dennis said the health department is also keeping an eye on the situation by tracking community input.
He said large-animal veterinarians have frequently reported when horses are infected with West Nile. Horses are particularly susceptible to the disease.
While the virus is still maintaining a presence in Alachua County, Dennis said this trend is partly due to standing water left by Tropical Storm Debby in July.
He said no human cases have been reported in the county so far.
“Our function is mainly in the surveillance,” Dennis said, “so we continue to monitor all the surveillance data closely and advise the public as necessary.”
Right now, Dennis said, the advice to the public is to take personal precautions.
He said the health department’s theme, “drain and cover,” means residents should drain standing water, cover their windows with screens and cover themselves with repellant or extra clothing.
Catherine Seemann, advertising, marketing and media coordinator for the UF Student Health Care Center, said the center continues to follow the health department’s lead and to relay the information it publishes across campus.
“We can’t go to somebody’s house and fix their screens and make them wear repellant, but we can educate them,” she said.
