Cooke County —
County officials confirmed two local cases of West Nile virus Thursday, neither of them believed to be life-threatening.
Origins of the two infections are unknown and Cooke County still maintains a non-hazardous status.
“We are not, at this point, concerned that we have a West Nile problem in Cooke County,” said Ray Fletcher, county emergency manager and fire marshal. “But we are monitoring the trends and keeping up with the state health office. If we determine that we have a problem here, there would be alternatives explored as to what we could do.”
The two cases were reported to state health officials and logged into a report later released by the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Fletcher said names of the two subjects are still unknown, and said these cases were reported during the past month.
The situation, he added, shows no evidence that it began in Cooke County.
“It doesn’t tell you where they got it,” Fletcher said. “They might have caught it in Dallas and brought it here and were treated here.”
Earlier this week, Denton county health officials confirmed 78 cases of West Nile virus and one death. Dallas County is in a more severe status; its officials have launched an aerial spraying effort, and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings declared Wednesday that the city’s recent outbreak is a “state of emergency.” He then authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in more than 45 years.
More than 200 cases of West Nile and 10 deaths linked to the virus have been reported across Dallas County, where officials authorized aerial spraying last week. State health department statistics show 381 cases and 16 deaths related to West Nile statewide.
But Fletcher explained that to contract this virus isn’t necessarily to suffer because of it — or even be aware of it.
“It can be anything from a mild lethargy, with minor symptoms, to death,” he said. “It’s a very wide range of symptoms that present themselves.
Many people get it but don’t even know they have it. And those who have the most severe cases are those who have other medical conditions that exacerbate it.”
Beyond two recent sessions of mosquito spraying in Gainesville city limits, no other precautions or anti-mosquito treatments are planned.
Fletcher said this is because even though officials are monitoring the situation, they currently perceive no local West Nile virus threat.
“I think we are in a less urbanized county, and we probably have less opportunity for standing water and those areas that would encourage mosquito breeding,” he said.
Fletcher also said the number of confirmed West Nile cases in Cooke County would have to dramatically spike within a short timeframe.
To gain a few more cases through the next few months would not constitute an actual threat, since it wouldn’t establish that the virus has become a local reality.
“There is no magic number,” he said. “If we had a dramatic increase, we would want to determine where they contracted it as best as they can figure.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Local News
Two West Nile cases confirmed in Cooke County
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