No, You Do Not Have West Nile Virus
As summer begins to wind down, we once again come face to face with our old mosquito-spread nemesis, West Nile Virus. Eight cases have been confirmed in Pennsylvania (including one in Montco and two in Delco) this year so far. And after weekends at the shore, vacations, or just being outside for more than ten minutes, most of us are covered in mosquito bites. But here’s some good news: You (most likely) do not have West Nile Virus. And even if you do, according to the CDC, 80 percent of infected people show no symptoms at all. Only one in about 150 infected people will develop severe symptoms, including “high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis.” But 1 in 150? We’ll take those odds.
As for where to go to stay away from WNV, as you can see in the map above, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia are pretty good bets. Also, stay the hell away from Texas (336 cases, 14 deaths) and Louisiana (52 cases, 6 deaths). And just use bug spray, you dopes.
[Map of 2012 cases as of August 14 via the CDC]
