By Tolu Salako

Staff Writer

Around the end of summer, mosquitoes seem to wake from their slumber, creating many problems. Today’s most prevalent: the West Nile Virus.

As of Sept. 4, 586 reported cases of West Nile have been reported in the U.S and Dallas County has confirmed 326 of those cases. These statistics show that West Nile has become a huge concern for many Texan students, teachers and parents.

According to CNN, with the warm climate and mild temperatures of Dallas, mosquitoes carrying the virus are more common here than any other city in America.

“[Southern house mosquitoes] that carry the virus, like to lay eggs in stagnant water,” Environmental Health Officer Perri Kittles said. “Since Dallas doesn’t get a lot of rain, flood plains that hold stagnant water attract the southern house mosquitoes.”

As of Sept. 4, there have been five confirmed human cases in Coppell and 23 reported positive West Nile Virus mosquito samples. Coppell has tried to stabilize and reduce the number of cases in Coppell with aerial and ground spraying many times during the summer.

“We have aerial sprayed [Coppell] twice and ground sprayed about four or five times,” Kittles said. “Our results are still preliminary; however the number of mosquito traps have reduced.”

With mosquitoes being the common pest in Texas, it is scary to some to see the serious effects of being bitten by these southern house mosquitoes, including even neurological damage. Over the summer, Coppell High School physics teacher, Bill Montana, caught the West Nile virus.

“[When I had West Nile,] I felt like I had the flu but I didn’t have any upper respiratory pain,” Montana said. “I had some kidney pain and a really sore neck, and because of these symptoms, my doctor told me that I probably had caught the West Nile virus. I had to wait it out for about three weeks until I felt better.”

Since mosquitoes are very active during dawn, where the cross-country team practice almost everyday, these students have taken some precautions to ensure safety from West Nile virus.

“Cross country starts between 6-6:30 a.m. on most days and thankfully, it has not been a problem since [the cross country team] is moving the whole time,” cross country coach Roxanne Farris said.  “We bring OFF just in case, but the amount of mosquito activity in the area has not been as huge of a problem as it was in previous years.”

Many citizens are very concerned about how to prevent this serious virus, since symptoms are very discrete and hardly noticeable.

“What the [Environmental Health Department] likes to stress are the five Ds,” Kittles said. “Dress, deet, drain and dusk and dawn are what we stress to those trying to avoid West Nile.”

According to Coppell’s Environmental Health Department, wearing long clothing will help prevent mosquito bites and using repellents that use deet will make most mosquitoes not harm humans.

“My parents are very scared about this virus going around,” junior Melanie Talmadge said. “[My parents] always want to put bug spray before I go to school and try to reduce the number of times I go out [at dusk.] It gets annoying sometimes, but I know that they just want me to be safe.”

Because mosquitoes like to stay in areas with stagnant water, drainage is a must in areas with less rainfall, like Dallas, and it most likely reduces the amount of mosquitoes.

The West Nile virus is unfortunately an endemic in the U.S, and therefore Dallas citizens should be cautious about the environment around them and take these safety precautions.